Shadow Embraced (Haven Academy Book 1) [Completed]

Chapter 8

I knock on the door to the examination room and a voice sounds from within. "Enter."

I open the door and find the same doctor from the little hut, scar — which is mostly healed — and all. She gives me a quick glance before resuming her conversation with another girl already in the office. The girl stands with her back to me. Her long black hair is tied back in a high ponytail.

"You seem to be progressing well, Miss Avery," Powers says, reaching her hand up to the girl's face. "Let me know if there's any pain or discomfort."

"I'm fine." The girl swats the hand away. "Why am I here? I'm not like the rest of these animals. I can control myself."

"I'm sure you can." Powers shakes her head. "You may go."

The girl turns around. Her hazel eyes freeze on me. How can I forget that Snow White complexion, air of arrogant superiority, and fiery glare of disgust? The girl from the club. The charming young lady with the hard punches. This is unbelievable. I picked a fight with a vampire; that is so like me.

She walks past me, crashing her shoulder into mine as she passes. Leaving the room, she slams the door behind her. I'm left alone, facing one of the people responsible for my being here.

"So, how are you feeling today?" she asks, looking down at the file in front of her.

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" I lower my voice as if the walls have ears and gossipy mouths.

"I know you must feel confused and conflicted. But what we did was for your own good, as well as that of your family."

"Why won't you let me call them?"

"I am going to check to see if your development is proceeding properly. I conduct these tests with all the students here." She doesn't move her gaze from the file as she speaks.

"Why won't you answer my question? I don't care what Elysium said, Mum will be worried sick about me. Please, I just want to tell her I'm okay."

"That's not possible."

"You can't keep me here," I say.

"It's not my choice. I would rather turn you over to the council." Her voice comes out low and emotionless. "I think you'll never be able to function outside these walls, so there's no point in keeping you around here as a pet."

I choose to ignore her words and ask another question I want answered. "What about Alex? I want to at least know she's okay." I want to know if she can forgive me for nearly killing her.

She ignores my question and points toward a chair beside her desk. "Take a seat." She opens a desk drawer and pulls out a bag filled with needles and other sharp implements. For the first time since I entered the room, she moves her gaze towards me and a smile spreads across her face. "Don't worry, this won't hurt much."

* * *

The school grounds look very different after dark. My night vision paints everything in bizarre shades of red that fade to normal every time I walk near one of the luminous garden lamps. The smell of wet grass fills the air. The rest of the day passes quickly and I'm not in the mood for socialising right now and ditch dinner. So, I decide to wander — you know, give myself some time to think.

I rub my arm; even after several hours, it's still throbbing. I can safely say I know what it feels like to be dissected. I thought physicals usually involve seeing if you could touch your toes or run till you puke, maybe a little blood work if the need arises. I'm not even sure if what she did was legal, let alone to help me. Powers seemed to enjoy jabbing me with things. She took some notes, a sizeable amount of blood and went back to jabbing me. Yeah, I'm sure this is what she does to everyone.

"What do you want?" I sense her before she makes a sound.

Any fear I might have felt at the thought of Little Miss Snow White is nothing compared to the irritation of having my brooding interrupted. She stands there, a vicious smirk smeared across her porcelain features. The lamplight makes her pale skin glow. Her attitude serves only to piss me off further. Someone needs to beat some sense into this bitch — and I'm the girl for the job. Hmm, maybe a bit of fighting will help cheer me up.

"You and I have some unfinished business," she snarls.

"Do we now?" I'm surprised at how cold my voice sounds.

"Do you really think you're fooling anyone?" She circles me. "You don't belong here!"

"I'm here anyway." I don't intend to walk away. "What are you going to do about it?"

Without another word, she charges straight for me at lightning speed. Strangely enough, I'm able to follow her every moment. I wait for the last possible moment, dodge, and launch a kick against her leg. The force is enough to knock her to the ground. Oh, random violence, how I've missed you! In this case, not really so random.

She jumps to her feet and lets loose an intense volley of punches. I try to knock each punch aside, but one manages to slip through. One is all she needs. The impact sends me reeling. It almost takes my head off.

"I'm not dancing with you! When are you going to start taking this seriously?" she screams.

Spitting out a mouthful of blood, I pull myself together. I don't remember her being this strong before. My heart races, not from fear, but from anticipation. I smile. Electricity surges through every nerve. All my senses buzz. I want this fight. Heck, I need it, and she isn't going to scare me off with one hit.

I rush forward and bring a fist into her gut, catching her off guard. Staggering, she bares her teeth. My victory is short-lived as she lunges with a barrage of new hits. Some of them even make contact.

I don't care anymore; I'm too busy launching my own strikes. I'm hitting as hard as she is. Deep inside me, I can hear a voice screaming for more. A primal need for carnage.

Something pounces. Hands shoot out and tear us from each other. I can't breathe as pressure fills my chest. It feels like I'll never move again. That hit's far more painful than anything Snow or I could ever dish out. It knocks us both several feet apart.

I force myself to sit up and stare at our attacker.

Standing between us, arms outstretched, is a guy whose hair looks like shards of silver erupting from his head. He towers over us, with an expression of animalistic fury is locked on his face as he moves his gaze from me to Snow. Sunglasses cover his eyes, despite how dark it is out here. Faint points of lights glare from beneath the shades. I don't need to ask to know this guy's a werewolf.

"Get them out of here," he barks.

The crowd lets out a gasp. Wait a minute. Where did all these people come from?

Firm hands grip me around my waist and drag me to my feet. I can't take my eyes off the werewolf. I'm finding it hard to breathe.

"I'll take her." Daemon's smooth, silk-lined voice sweeps past my ear.

The werewolf gives a curt nod. The light behind his shades intensifies. "Take her to the council room."

With great effort, I manage to tear my gaze away from him.

Daemon grips me by the shoulders. He offers a cheerful little smile that makes my heart beat faster. I just want to step into his arms, but force myself to stand still.

What am I thinking? I must have taken more hits to the head than I thought. He turns and leads me in the direction of the dining hall, taking care I don't fall. As I leave the tight circle of spectators, I notice Snow's face set in a grimace. I don't think she likes the attention Daemon is giving me.

"You'll have to excuse Rome," Daemon says as he leads me down an unfamiliar corridor. "He has a nasty tendency to take charge."

We walk in silence for a few very uncomfortable minutes before I blurt out, "Are you stalking me?" Reconsidering my words, I add, "I didn't mean... I..." mumbling like an idiot.

"I came to see the show. When a fight breaks out, I can tell you most of the school would know about it and have a wager on who will win." He laughs. "I promise I didn't know it was you. By the way, that was an extremely brave move."

"What was?"

"Fighting on school grounds." He shakes his head. "You're lucky Rome didn't take you down right there."

"What do you think my punishment's going to be?" I ask, feeling my voice quiver.

"I'm sure you can handle anything the big dog dishes out."

I feel my cheeks redden and decide it's the best time to change the topic. "So, how do you become Talon's assistant?"

He shrugs. "That's a long and boring story. I would rather hear more about your life."

Oh crap, I don't know what I can tell him that won't give away that I'm a complete freak. I take to studying the identical doorways we pass. How much longer until we're there?

"How about an easy one then? Where are you from?"

Giving him where I'm from won't scream 'I'm a Dhampir', will it? I think about it before answering, "Sydney."

"Ah, city girl." He smiles. "That's one thing. Don't worry. I will find out everything eventually. Just give me the time. I'm good with mysteries. We're here."

We stop in front of a dark wooden door. There is no indication that this is a special room, there's not even a gold plaque with a number.

He gives the door a knock and pushes it open. Before he turns to leave he mouths, 'Good luck'.

I take a deep breath and step through the door, not sure what's awaiting me inside.

A long table sits at the far end of the room with five people seated behind it. The one in the middle is Rome, the towering werewolf who ended the fight.

A single candle, positioned in front of him, provides the only source of light in the room. It's bright enough to knock out my night vision. At least the room is empty apart from the table, so bumping into anything shouldn't be a problem. I walk through the ominous room, each footstep echoing off the cold brick walls, and come to a stop in front of the student council.

"You are charged with violating school rules by engaging in a public altercation with Jynx Avery." Rome's stern voice tears through the room. "We know you are new here, but that is no excuse, and being caught fighting will not be tolerated."

The other members lean close to Rome, speaking in hushed voices even I can't hear. Every few seconds I feel their gaze upon me. It's as if I'm a trapped rat, and these people are busy trying to decide whether to smash me with a rock.

"Okay." He directs his gaze up at me and smiles, a yellow glow lights up his shades. "Your punishment has been decided." Raising his fingers, he gives a click that echoes through the room.

Something hits me from behind and I see the ground rushing up to meet me. As I fall, someone shoves a bag over my head and darkness surrounds me.

* * *

I lie on the cold dirt floor, blindfolded, waiting for someone to tell me what the hell is going on. Whatever happened to writing lines or lunchtime detention? I'll gladly take those penalties over whatever's about to happen.

"Remove the hood." Rome's menacing voice echoes off the walls.

I lift my fingers to my face and rip the rough material off my head. I am in a massive underground cavern. A bare-chested Rome stands over me. His tight, rolling chest glistens under the flicker of blazing torches positioned along the walls. Why is his shirt off?

"Since you apparently like fighting so much, we thought we'd give you the opportunity." His gaze holds mine. A smirk spreads across his face. "Well, come on. Show us your skills."

He lunges forward before I have a chance to get to my feet. I manage to get out of the way before his entire weight crashes down where I just was.

"What the hell?" I scream as I jump to my feet, dodging another attack.

"Come on, you like to fight. This is your chance." He throws a punch at my head, before snaking a quick kick to my ribs.

I block strike, after strike, after strike. His attacks are relentless. I can't believe how fast he is. My eyes can hardly keep up with his movements. Each step he takes is like an animalistic dance. I can only wait and hope that, at some point in time, he'll drop his guard. It had better be soon before I can't even feel my arms anymore.

The other council members watch on in silence as I get my ass kicked. I drop to a crouching position and bring my first right into his gut. I don't wait to see if that has any effect before I swing my leg across his knees to knock him off balance. It works.

I stand up straight and keep my eyes fixed on my opponent. He staggers for a few seconds but doesn't do anything as dramatic as falling over. His posture stiffens and a smile flickers across his face before his expression goes blank.

He lunges toward me. This time I can't keep up with his speed, and he ploughs a fist into my stomach. I crumple forwards, all the wind rushing from my lungs. One more kick to the leg turns them into jelly and I collapse to the dirt ground.

"With your skill, I'm surprised you're not dead yet." He reaches up to his shades and removes them. His eyes glow with an intensity so strong I can't look away. Heck, I can't even move. I feel my whole system locking up.

"Don't get caught fighting again." Rome's warning trails after me as I tumble into unconsciousness.