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

A pair of arms hefted me upright, forcing me to my feet.

Aha, finally. Face to face with the infamous Petra Drakos.

Blinking through my blurred vision, I tried to focus on the woman studying me. The first thing I noticed was her black robe, recognizing its signature trademark from various books on Hollows. It was a gold emblem of a serpent coiled through a pentagram, sewn into the right sleeve. No one dared wear that emblem in Mythos, but the same laws and social constructs didn’t exist in the Underworld. Down here, power reigned supreme. Hollows could roam freely.

Next, I noticed Petra looked younger than I expected, her skin still as supple as a teenager’s. She had deep-set eyes that were narrowed on me, brunette hair combed back into a braid, and thick brows that slashed across her forehead. She was every bit as intimidating as I expected, but also, startlingly beautiful. It wasn’t difficult to see why my father had been attracted to her.

She snapped her fingers toward Ajax. “Get us some coffee.”

“Ahem, coffee, mistress?”

“That’s right.” She looked at me. “Unless you prefer tea?”

I blinked. “Uh, coffee is fine.”

What the…what?

“Thought so. You look like a coffee kind of girl.”

Ajax scratched his chin. “Where am I supposed to find—”

“I don’t care where you find it, but you better hope you do,” she said, without letting him finish. “If you return without it, your tongue will be the one sliced off.”

Without raising her voice, she managed to inflict terror. Seeing Ajax’s reaction made me swallow back a grin. After the way he handled me, I wouldn’t mind seeing him suffer a little. He shuffled out the door in a hurry, his eyes bulging with fear.

“We’d better start with introductions. I’m Petra Drakos.”

She held out her hand, but I refused to take it. Instead, I nodded stiffly. “I’m well aware.”

Pursing her lips, she lowered her arm. “And you are…Sheridan Thorne?”

“Yes.”

She had to ask? Earlier she mentioned I was the wrong Thorne girl, which meant she was after Riley. The more important question was, why?

“Hmm…” She smiled, her attention seemingly faraway. “I never knew what he named the two of you. Sheridan is a nice name.”

Petra removed her robe and laid it on the table, revealing a scarlet toga with leather bindings. Her muscles were still as taut as an Ares warrior. She gestured to one of the empty chairs, and I sat down.

“What have you heard about me, Sheridan?”

“Plenty.”

She nodded and walked around the table. “I’ve heard what people say. Frankly, it’s a mix of lies with a few truths thrown in.” She sat in the chair across from me. “There are two sides to every story. I would like to tell you mine, and then you can decide for yourself what’s true and what’s not.”

“I don’t care about your side of the story.”

I was still treading that damn line, but I refused to play nice. This woman was the reason my family was torn apart. I wanted her to know how much I despised her.

To my surprise, I didn’t burst into flames under the weight of her gaze. She simply laughed. “You don’t mince words, do you?”

I shrugged. “If you want to kill me, you will.”

“Fair enough,” she agreed with a nod. “But you’re here. You might as well humor me by listening. I can guarantee you’ll be interested in what I have to say.”

I doubted that, but she was right about one thing. I was here, and it didn’t look like I was going anywhere anytime soon. “If you must.”

“Wonderful.” She sounded cheerful, like I’d given her a gift. “The story starts long before mine and Daniel’s time, with a pair of young boys who became mortal rivalries. The first was Thomas Vane, the second Franklin Thorne.”

I jerked my head up at those names.

Okay. She definitely had my attention now.

“You’re saying this started with my grandfather?”

“Indeed.” Her lips curved into a slow smile. “Along with one of the most revered leaders of the Hollowed Council.”

Where had I heard that name before? Aha—my mother. “Thomas Vane, as in Selena Vane’s father?”

She nodded. “As well as mine.”

“Yours…” I gasped. “You and Selena are sisters?”

“Half-sisters,” she corrected. “Thomas left my mother, alone and pregnant, for Selena’s mother. Does the tale sound familiar?”

I swallowed. The vicious cycle in this family was on another level.

“Wait. My sister and I are also cousins?”

Again, she nodded.

Oh Jesus.

This was so messed up. My head was spinning. Pretty soon, I would need a handbook on who was who. “Let me see if I have this right,” I said, taking a deep breath. “You and my mother are half-sisters, and my grandfather is a Hollowed Council member.”

Her brow twitched. “Pretty much.”

“Pretty much?”

“Let’s start with their story, shall we?” She smoothed out the skirt of her toga, getting comfortable. “Thomas and Frank were childhood friends. Different bloodlines, but they played together, went to the same schools, and grew up in the same neighborhood. As they grew older, their friendship fell apart. Opposing beliefs, you see. Frank was conservative and strongly believed in upholding the law. Thomas was a radical thinker. He believed in Neoteric Magic, a force most Mythonians refuse to accept. Have you heard of it?”

I had, in one of the Twilight Island books. “I’ve read a little about it.” I searched my memory, until the paragraph came back to me.

Neoteric Magic, often associated with Dark Magic, stems from the modern idea that bloodlines are an outdated principle, and that serving humans offers no benefit to magical beings. Many mages practicing Neoteric Magic are thought of as careless or harmful as they prefer not to adhere to Mythonian laws, and their guiding principle is that nothing is off limits.

Petra continued on with the story. “Anyway, one boy fell in with the cops. The other landed himself with Hollows. Thomas believed in Neoteric Magic so strongly, he pledged himself to the Hollows at an early age, because they were the only group that accepted his values.”

“I