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

Ione speak with that much anger. Her eyes glittered with tears. After several deep breaths, she collected herself, and continued on with the story.

“Within a few months, the beds of my fingernails turned black and the whites of my eyes yellowed. I didn’t have much time. Mama and I searched for a cure. Just as you did, we came to Twilight Island in secret. We went to a medicine man similar to the Curse Breaker. No one knew, not even Xander.” Her voice began to tremble. “The difference was, my mother kept me ignorant of the bodily sacrifice. Had I known, I would never have agreed to it.”

Jesus. She wasn’t lying when she said I didn’t get the half of it.

“Did they take—” I couldn’t seem to push out the words.

“My womb?” Ione’s gaze sharpened. “Yes. I’ll never have children. Stop with the look of pity, Sheridan. I’m not telling you this to make you feel sorry for me. I’m telling you this as a precautionary tale. After the surgery, I developed an infection. My delusional mother believed it was part of the process, me shedding whatever demons were left over from my father’s curse. By this time, Xander sensed something was wrong. He performed a locator spell, found me here, and asked the local magistrate to institutionalize my mother. Then he brought me to the hospital on Autumn Island.”

“I’m so sorry, Ione.”

“The methods were brutal, but the curse was lifted. Was it worth it?” She shrugged, holding her palms up. “I don’t know. Don’t be sorry—be smart. Your curse isn’t as fatal as mine was. And as long as your sister isn’t around, you have time. You have a chance.”

“What happened to your mother?” I said. “Did she ever get out?”

“After six months, yes, she did. Our relationship has never been the same though. It’s strange, I’ve always been more hurt by her than my father. I knew he was evil, but mama…I loved and trusted her, and she betrayed that trust.” She shook her head, shrugging. “Xander feels the opposite. He sees our mother as another victim.”

I could understand why both of them felt the way they did.

“Thank you for telling me your story, Ione.”

Her perfect image had shattered, but in the most beautiful way. When I looked at her now, it was obvious she put up a front to hide the pain. At one time, she had been just like me, scared and looking for a way out of impossible circumstances.

“Just to be clear, this still doesn’t make us friends.”

I snorted. “Of course not.”

“You’re unruly, impulsive, and you wear too many ponytails.” She wagged her finger, and my hair shifted this way and that. After a few seconds, my crazy strands were secured into an artful fishtail braid.

“Oh, that’s pretty,” I said, yawning. Between staying out last night and the day I’d had, my body felt like it weighed a million pounds.

Ione stood, looking out the French doors at the sea view. “Get some sleep,” she suggested. “By the time you wake, your headache should be gone.”

I snuggled into the sofa, out within seconds.

27

I wasn’t sure how many hours I napped, but Ione was right. When I woke, I felt a million times better, the potion out of my system. Yawning, I blinked and looked around. The clock on the mantle said it was just past nine. The moon glowed bright enough to light the entire beach. I shook my head at the irony. A dim sun, and a full, bright moon. Twilight Island never fully rested.

“Hungry?” Ione called from the kitchen, where the faint sound of sizzling grew.

“Starving.” I stood up, stretching. “Do you need any help?”

“Nope, almost done.”

The front door opened and closed. Xander walked through, carrying a large box of books. They were stacked so high, it looked close to toppling over. “Ah, good, you’re awake.” He set the box on the floor next to the coffee table. “You look better, too. Ready to thank me yet, damsel?”

I slit my eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was thank him for coming to my rescue, like a freaking knight in shining armor.

Xander placed a hand over his heart, trying to appear wounded. “Ah, that’s okay. I know deep down, you’re grateful.” Clearly, he was enjoying every painful second of this. “Even if you never say it.”

Ugh, I might as well get this over with. “Thank you, Xander.”

“And you enjoy having me around…”

“You’re pushing it.”

He flashed that gorgeous smile of his, somehow pulling off both annoying and swoonworthy at the same time. “Anytime.”

Ione rounded the corner, carrying a plate stacked full of grilled cheese sandwiches. “And where have you been?”

“Shopping,” Xander replied, gesturing to the mountain of books.

Ione set the plate down on the coffee table, then bent down to look through the books. She picked up the first in the stack. “These are all about…oh, I see.”

Looking eager, Xander steered his gaze on me. “Ione told me about your nifty little ability.”

“My nifty what?” I was so confused. “Oh, you mean the speed-reading thing.”

“You’re a bibliomagus, Sheridan,” Ione corrected. “What you can do requires no actual reading. Books speak to you. You’re impressing their information to your mind.”

Xander handed me one of the books. “The opportune thing about being here on Twilight Island is that they have a shit-ton of occult bookstores, books you can’t find in Arcadia’s library.”

I looked down, scanning the title: Black Curses, Hexes, and Crossing.

Almost as soon as I touched it, the thing zapped me. “Ouch,” I said, dropping it. “That is not a nice book.”

Ione snorted.

Xander picked up the book, shaking his head. “Neither was the woman who cursed you, but you know what they say—know thy enemy.”

Ah. I was beginning to see the genius behind his line of thinking. “You want me to search for a counter.”

He nodded. “Exactly.”

“Okay,” I said, grabbing a sandwich. “But food first. I need energy."

A few hours later, I was well versed in dark magic, and I didn’t like it any