The next day, Theo and his smile were waiting for me right outside the medical ward. I slipped out of the hospital doors as soon as I’d changed into the new school uniform.
“Don’t most college students wear casual dress?” I asked him. He shrugged and pulled at his shirt, which looked far more worn than my freshly pressed shirt. Instead of a pair of navy slacks that Theo wore, I had a perfectly hemmed skirt that fit nicely. It was by far the preppiest thing I’d ever worn. My old high school—my heart gave a painful throb—never had uniforms. The local college that I was looking at certainly didn’t have a dress code like this. All I saw were hoodies and jeans when I’d gone to visit the small campus.
“Beast Academy is a special place,” he said with a wink. Now, out of the haze, I could see exactly how handsome he was. A gorgeous boy that could’ve lived next to me back home…minus the bear-shifter part. I stared at the patch on his shirt.
“Do I need one of those?”
He pawed at the emblem as if he’d forgotten it was there. “Sure. What kind of shifter are you?”
I cleared my throat. “I’m a late-bloomer, and I didn’t know my family had shifter blood.” My voice cracked. “I can’t really ask them now.”
His eyes grew soft. “Don’t worry. We can get them to put an Academy patch on it. Some people prefer that. You don’t always want to advertise your shifting spirit.”
“Shifting spirit?”
“Your animal, of course.” He grinned. “Bear for me. Duh.”
My cheeks went warm. Theo’s sweet nature was refreshing. My mind wandered away from thoughts of fire and my parents, who were most definitely human. There was no mistaking that. But if I wanted to survive and be protected in this “academy,” then it would be better if I acted along…
“Sometimes, I suspect I might be bear, myself,” I lied and instantly regretted it. His gorgeous green eyes lit up with passion. Somewhere, there was an athletic clothing catalogue missing their cover boy.
“How cool. I hope it’s true. I’ll get one of the staff to add the Academy symbol for now to all your shirts. They’re all in your room.”
“My room?”
His eyebrows knitted together. “Did Greta tell you anything?” I shook my head, my wild hair flying around me. I wanted a shower desperately, feeling oddly dirty in my stark new clothes. In an effort to tame my dirty hair, I’d braided it and added a few drops of essential lavender oil from Greta’s medical cabinet. Still, my hair was big and messy, even in braids.
We stepped out of the medical wing, and I gasped. As soon as the medical area ended, the gorgeous gray stones that I’d spent the last few hours staring at shimmered in the sunlight. It was if the stones themselves were alive in the hallway with us.
He laughed, a wonderful rumbling sound. “Yep. Beast Academy resides in a castle. The stones are a bit too much for me, but I’m pretty sure the construction was magic or enchanted or something.”
“Enchanted?” I took a pause. “Wait, we’re in a castle?”
He chuckled. “You got it, Miss Mystery.”
“Mystery?” My sole job lately was to ask stupid questions, I guess.
His eyes twinkled mischievously. “You never told me your name.”
I blushed fiercely. “Fiona.” I kept my last name for myself...even though Theo seemed like he was someone who could be trusted. I needed to be careful. Exactly how much did he know about me? And the people who brought me here…I wasn’t sure who I could trust here.
We exited into a grand hallway that arched upward. I craned my neck back to admire the light spilling through an intricate stained glass that contained various depictions of animals. I stopped and tried to make the shapes out. It was breathtaking work, something worthy of a museum. Theo’s breath brushed my ear as he spoke, “Bear, wolf, lion, fox, and dragon. Those are the main houses.” I turned and nearly smacked my nose against his chest. He grinned down at me, blissfully unaware of that his close proximity was doing to me. Beads of sweat pricked the back of my neck.
“All these types of shifters live here?”
He nodded. “The young ones. We’re a college for elite shifter youth. The youngest here is 18, and the oldest is 25. Our dear Dracus is the oldest among our dorm house, but you’ll meet him.”
“Our dorm?”
I wondered if he ever tired of grinning at my questions and shock. “Yes! Our dorm. You’ve been assigned to the Core Council, Fiona.” He patted my back. His light touch was so powerful that I nearly flew into his chest from the force of it. “Oops, sorry. Don’t know my own strength. I’m always breaking stuff. Ren says I’m the most annoying person in the world. Well, he said it once, but that’s big for him since he never talks.”
My mind reeled. “Is this Ren like Dracus? He lives in the dorm house with us?”
“Yes,” Theo said brightly. “We’re all on the Core Council because—” His voice hitched. “Well, we were elected by the student body, mostly. It’s like a student council. I think you’ll like our dorm. It’s nicer than most of the other dorms. You’ll have a private room.”
“Don’t I need to be elected?” Maybe it was better to ask questions around here. More questions meant less talking about myself.
“You can be assigned if it’s been decided by the big bosses,” he told me with a simple shrug of the shoulders. “The Officials said you had to live with us.” He snapped his mouth shut for a moment. “Look, I’ll explain it later.”
I nodded numbly, not having enough strength to argue. The halls were oddly quiet as he dragged me along for a tour. The castle itself was immense. It seemed like he’d shown me at least eighteen different corridors on three floors. He explained that the professors had offices in the four towers of the castle, but those were off-limits to student. I admired the worn stone pillars which held up arched ceilings. The walk was making my head dizzy. Even so, there was something oddly nice about his tour, packed with random bits of trivia. Finally, he led me through the last hallway— he promised with a grin— we finally came across another person.
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