Descendants Academy: Young Adult Urban Fantasy, Belle Malory [motivational novels for students .txt] 📗

18

Unlike Seduction Principles, the rest of my classes were enjoyable. Flight Equestrianism was held outdoors, just outside of the school’s stables. Hazel was in that class, too, and we both gawked, in awe of the Pegasus descendants. We learned the parts of the winged horse and the types of riding styles and saddles. Eventually, we’d get a chance to ride, but it wouldn’t be until later into the semester.

In Mirror Realm, Zack waited for me in a circular room full of mirrors, his pack of arrows strapped to his back. “Is it just us?” I asked, confused at the isolation.

He nodded, signaling me to whisper. “This place is sacred,” he explained. “The originals built it.”

The room was located in the heart of the school, underneath the library. I had to travel down two flights of stairs to get here, and now, I wasn’t sure what here was…it definitely didn’t look like a typical classroom.

“She’s not ready.” A wrinkled, old man appeared, hunched over in the doorway, leaning his weight against a wooden cane. He eyed me through glasses thicker than the mirrors surrounding us, shaking his head in disapproval.

Zack cleared his throat, nodding to the ancient-looking man. “Sheridan, this is Themus, Master of Gateways.”

“Nice to meet you.” I glanced at Zack. “Gateways?”

“That’s what the mirrors are,” he said. “They’re gateways into another realm.”

“She’s not ready,” Themus said again, sniffing. With that said, he turned around, tapped his cane against one of the mirrors, and then…he walked straight through it!

My skin chilled as the old man had all but disappeared. I saw his reflection, getting smaller and smaller by the second.

“Where’d he go?” I asked Zack.

“Into the mirror realm. It’s an ancient dimension that remains invisible to the human eye.” He gestured toward one of those mirrors, and I could make out a faint reflection of a teenage girl in an apron. She appeared to be working in a café. Her shoe caught the edge of a mat, making her trip, and the coffee pot she held went flying. It shattered across the floor into a thousand pieces. Poor girl looked like she was about to cry. “This will be your first subject.”

I snapped to attention. “Subject?”

“You’re going to make her fall in love.” He pointed at a crowded table in the back of the café. “With that guy.”

The guy he pointed out was clean-cut, handsome, and wore a school letter jacket. He sat in the center of the table, clearly popular inside his huge circle of friends. It wasn’t hard to see where this was going.

“So she’s the geeky girl, and he’s the rich jock. This has every teen movie cliché written all over it.”

Zack stared at me.

“We’ll put them in detention together,” I explained. “Get them to spend some one on one time.”

This was cake.

Zack looked skeptical, obviously questioning my judgment. “And how are we going to do that?”

“First, we need to get through there and shoot off one of your lust arrows.”

Zack gestured me forward. “Ladies first.”

It seemed like a trap, especially after that whole you’re not ready bit the old man kept repeating, but I shrugged and figured what the hell. This was about embracing Aphrodite, after all. I stepped forward, and—

Ouch!

My face and body smacked directly into the glass. “Was that supposed to happen?” I whined, my forehead and nose throbbing.

Zack laughed, holding his belly as his cheeks turned rosier. “Themus was right! You’re not ready.”

“What the crap does that mean?”

“The mirror only lets those through who are worthy.”

I frowned, more worried now than ever. “I’m not a true Aphrodite descendant. What if the mirror never lets me through?”

“These mirrors aren’t used solely by Aphrodite students,” Zack said, his chuckles dying down. “All of the descendants use the mirror realm to practice their magic. Don’t worry, you’ll get there. It’s just going to take some time.”

Time…great.

Guess I could add this to my growing list of sucktastic things about this school.

“What do we do until then?”

Zack made his way toward the staircase leading out of here. “Nothing,” he said over his shoulder. “We try again tomorrow.”

19

At dusk, I left for my grandfather’s office. It was located in the Academia building, down on the basement level. The halls were eerily empty; everyone else had gone to dinner or back to their dorms.

As I walked through the corridor, I felt little tingles on the back of my neck. Someone was there. Watching. I curled my hand tighter around the strap of my bag, picking up the pace.

The lanterns along the walls flickered around me. Each of them extinguished with one whoosh after another. I sucked in a breath, stopping in my tracks. My heart tripped over itself as I tried to get a feel for the magic. Right away, that warm familiar sensation coursed through me, and I relaxed. Even its scent was becoming recognizable, a mixture of polished leather, evergreen, and freshly fallen rain.

“Why are you here?” I said aloud, even though he hadn’t made himself visible yet.

Only one lantern remained lit, directly in front of where I stood. Xander stepped out of the shadows, looking impressed. “Hey, damsel.”

Ugh, that nickname. I still hated it as much as before.

“Heard you were looking for me.”

I shifted the weight of my bag to my hip, glaring at him with all the animosity I felt. “Not anymore.”

Xander leaned against the wall beside him, crossing his arms over his chest. “Don’t take what happened on the field personal.”

Seriously?

“Too late,” I bit out, pissed off at how cavalier he was acting about the whole thing. Like I should just be okay with him being a jerk or pretend it never happened. “Carry on with ignoring me, Xander. Whatever my problems are, I’ll figure them out on my own.”

Even though the rest of the hall was dark, I sidestepped him, and continued on my way.

“Sheridan, wait.” His hand came around my elbow, that one simple touch a little too electrifying. I backed up to get out of his grip.

The dim candlelight