Fated Lovers

Lughnasadh Elite Academy Collection 1

Layla Heart

Fated Lovers (Lughnasadh Elite Academy Collection 1)

Copyright © 2020 LAYLA HEART

All rights reserved. No part of this story may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without express written permission of the copyright holder.

ISBN: 9789493139084

NUR: 285

Edition: 20200521

Get updates about Layla Heart’s books by signing up to the Easily Distracted Media Newsletter:

Easily Distracted Media Newsletter

Blurb

One clueless queen-to-be, sent to a magical world she didn’t know existed, five lovers waiting for her prophesied arrival.

Before her vital first cup of coffee in the morning, Litha finds out she’s a witch and is suddenly transported to a magical world she had no idea existed. As if that wasn’t strange enough, it turns out that she’s prophesied to be queen, and her parents only took her to the human world to protect her from those who want to stop the prophecy from happening. The prophecy tells of a queen who will marry the ‘true king’ to unite all four kingdoms under his rule, finally bringing peace for the first time in centuries.

The four princes who could become her king? They’re all hot as hell and make her insides squirm each time she sees them. There’s Bane, the werewolf prince, all broody and with hair sticking up like he just got out of bed. Kit, the incubus prince, whose wicked smile melts anyone’s unmentionables. Rune, the dragon prince, protective and with muscles like he’s a moving mountain. And last, but definitely not least, Finn, the fae prince, quiet but intense, with eyes like a summer forest. And to make things even more complicated, when Litha finally meets her roommate, Phoenix, the only daughter of the highest priestess of the witches, she doesn’t want to do anything but kiss the redhead silly.

The first day at the Academy is a little bumpy, as Litha feels so lost in this new world, but that pales in comparison to finding out her parents had to go into hiding, the documents of the prophecy having been stolen from the Academy just days before and that some of the princes have been keeping secrets which could be their undoing before anything even starts…

This collection includes the first three novellas of the Lughnasadh Elite Academy: Prophecy, Curiosity and Duality.

Get updates about Layla Heart’s books by signing up to the Easily Distracted Media Newsletter:

Easily Distracted Media Newsletter

Prophecy

Lughnasadh Elite Academy 1

1

No way. No fucking way. I stomp over the cobblestone path, dragging my suitcase behind me, following the people ahead. And who the fuck still uses cobblestone? This stuff was made to break ankles... What kind of school would use it, if not to annoy the students? Maybe they’re sadistic or something, that would make sense, a whole lot of sense, especially with my luck.

My life has always been a little strange and odd, but nothing compares to what happened in the last two days.

Yesterday morning, when I woke up, my parents announced that we were going to visit my grandmother, that I should go see her before I head off to college, for some reason. Which was, considering I hadn’t seen her in over five years, very curious for them to say. That should have been my first clue.

We spent most of the day in the car, my parents trying to fill the awkward silence with useless chatter until we reached grandma’s house. When we arrived at her place in the middle of fucking nowhere, right before dinner, we were welcomed into a house smelling of grilled meat, and there was a feast waiting for us on the table. She must have known about us visiting her for quite a while because this was more than any person would be able to prepare in just a couple of hours. The meal was lavish, three types of roasted meats, six vegetable side dishes, homemade applesauce, and any dish I could remember ever eating at her place. It was more than I’d ever seen on a table, which was strange as I don’t remember grandma ever doing this before, she was more of a wholesome type of cook, no banquets when a simple stew would do.

That should have been the second clue that something was up, grandma doesn’t do big meals, but yesterday she did. And it didn’t surprise my parents at all, they seemed to even have expected it.

I guess, in my weary state of mind after the long car trip, I reasoned it away as her trying to make up for lost years or something. That’s a thing people do, right? When they haven’t seen their family for a long time? Try to make up with something like this?

Here, I should add that, apart from what I’ve seen on TV, I don’t know what grandmas are supposed to be like. I only have the one, and she’s always been a little peculiar, never really a hundred percent here. But I guess I now know that there is a reason for her behaviour, a damn good reason.

I’m from a long line of witches. Yes, witches. No, I didn’t have a clue either. It totally surprised me too.

Witches. That’s what they said as they stood at the bottom of the stairs this morning, looking up at me all excited, all three of them, a huge suitcase at their feet, my backpack perching on top of it. I’m a witch, and my grandma isn’t my grandma, but a guardian sent here to protect my family, or something. My parents are my real parents, at least, that’s what they said. After hearing I’m a witch, nothing would have surprised me, probably.

I don’t know, I kind of stopped listening after those words, those three little words, ‘you’re a witch’. My parents did mention something about hiding me away from something because of some prophecy about me being some ‘fated bride’ to ‘unite the kingdoms’ or something like that. Don’t quote me on it, like I said, I was still trying to process the whole ‘long line of witches’ part of what they were saying.

After that, we all went upstairs, to the attic, and there was a glowing door in the middle of the otherwise very bare attic. A door! It was fucking glowing. I can’t even... I guess I underestimated my capacity for surprise, because that definitely surprised me.

Which was, of course, the moment my parents chose to inform me that I wasn’t attending the college I’d been trying to get into for the last four years, working my ass off, but instead would be attending some elite magical academy, like fucking Harry Potter or something. My life just turned into a Harry Potter book, only my parents are still alive, and I didn’t have some horrible abusive childhood, as far as I know.

There, we said our goodbyes. They did anyway, I was still trying to catch up with what was going on, and failing.

Forgive me, but don’t spring this on a girl before her first coffee in the morning, you know? Give me some time to wake up, and adjust to the speed of things around me. I don’t function before coffee, they knew that.

Also, this very efficient ‘Good morning, you’re a fucking witch’ to ‘Goodbye, see you over fall break’ spiel took under five minutes. Not that I can check, since my phone is still on the nightstand at grandma’s —the guardian’s— house.

As I walked/was pushed through the glowing door, I stepped out on some old style square with high walls on all sides, and doors opened and closed all around me, letting more and more people through, just like I had done. And everyone moved to the cobblestone street going off the square, probably up to the academy. Some people looked excited, most of them looked like they were just waking up, but they all started moving in the same direction, dragging their own suitcase behind them. All normal here then, at least, for this place...

There were some people my parents’ age, probably teachers or others working here, who kept announcing that breakfast would start in an hour and to get our names signed in at the gates so that we could be assigned our hall of residence for the year.

At home, it had been about ten or eleven in the morning, I didn’t check the time, but I’m not one for waking up early, and the sun had been high in the sky, not yet noon, but close enough. The way the sun is still just peeking over the houses around me and the pink colour of the sky overhead, it must be much earlier here. How did I just step through a door to a place a couple of timezones later without flying or anything? What?

And what are those things in the sky?

I look up again.

They’re definitely not birds, I know that much. They don’t have the right shape, or size, for birds, but I have no idea what else they could be. They look a little like ‘fairies’ from fairy tales, the way their wings are positioned at their back and the almost human shape of their bodies, but they’re way too big for fairies, and the shape of their wings are like a bat’s not the wings of dragonflies or butterflies.

I don’t realise I’ve stopped moving to look up until some girl bumps into me and lets out a low growl as she steps aside. I accidentally meet her eyes, and with a shock realise that they’re red. It’s not just the whites of her eyes, like when you’ve got a hangover or just haven’t slept for days, but her whole eyes are red, whites and all, totally red, with a simple black pupil in the middle.

“Keep moving, or all the good tables for breakfast will be gone.” Her voice is all growly and rough. Maybe it’s supposed to be like that, or maybe she also hasn’t fully woken up yet, right now, I’m betting on both. “I don’t know if you like being late or anything, but I do know that you don’t want to sit at the back of the room, it’s draughty there.”

“Right.” I start pulling my suitcase again, not wanting to get bumped into more and draw the wrath of one of the less friendly looking people around. Now that I’ve seen the eyes of the girl, I catch more differences in the people around me, like the boy in front of me whose ears are pointier than would be normal, or the icy hair of the girl walking a couple of steps over.

The red-eyed girl keeps her pace with me, walking in silence for a while before she opens her mouth and I see a flash of sharp teeth, not human teeth, but like a predator. “Where are you from? I don’t think I’ve seen you around. Are you new?” She seems very curious for someone so grouchy.

I shrug, trying to look nonchalant, like talking to a girl with predator teeth and red eyes is the most normal thing in the world. “Around. You probably didn’t notice me.”

The girl smiles, revealing those teeth again. “Oh, I would have noticed you...” Then she shrugs. “Fine, keep your secret. But the secrets of fresh meat don’t tend to stay secret for very long. We don’t get a lot of new people around here, you’ll find that out soon enough.” She raises a perfectly sculpted eyebrow before she starts walking ahead of me. Strange girl. ‘Fresh meat’? Really? That’s what they call new people here?

We finally reach what looks like gates to the academy grounds, and people are waiting outside, holding stacks of paper, just like the printer paper that we use in the normal world. I’m starting to compare the two, because the longer I’m here, the more I realise that this world definitely isn’t normal.

As soon as I reach one of the adults at the gates, she looks up. “Name?”

“Litha Brown.”

Her eyes go over the list, and then the next page, and the next page, and she meets my eyes. I realise her irises are a really pale blue, almost like ice, and a chill runs down my spine. “What year are you in?”

“First year.” What was going on? Was this some sort of prank? Like today could get much worse.

“Let me check again.” She holds her finger next to whatever list she’s checking. “I don’t see that name here. Do you have your acceptance letter with you? Maybe there is a mixup.”

A letter? Now what? I take the backpack off and open one of the zippers, but it’s just the stuff I stuck in there yesterday.

Behind me, the line is starting to get longer and longer. I don’t deal well with nerves like this, I hate it. Why is all the attention now on me? I like being invisible, I like people not paying too much attention to me.

I look up at the woman with ice-eyes, but I don’t think I’m getting any support there... I glance down again, opening the next pocket in the bag, and finally, three pockets later, I find a letter in the very front of the backpack, like I’m a little kid. Mum used to put any important papers in there all the time when I was in primary school, and by now, I feel small and little anyway, scared and nervous, stressed. Not a good day today...

The name of the academy is in big letters at the top of the envelope ‘Lughnasadh Elite Academy’, and then, it lists my name, but it has a different last name, it says Vigil instead of Brown. What? Why is there a different name on the letter, even though the address is correct and the first name matches mine? Why is there a different last name?

With a shaking hand, I give the envelope to the woman and then pull the backpack onto my back, my movements choppy and awkward, so ready to be out of here.

“It’s a pleasure to have you join us, miss Litha. We’ve been expecting you.” Suddenly she’s smiling at me, making me even more nervous and confused. “If you can go to the fourth building on your right, you will get your room assigned there. Have a great year.” She moves her arm to the side, indicating for me to step through the gate.

She’s expecting me here? What? What did I get myself into? First the things my parents told me, and now here, people expecting me?

When will I be waking up, in my room, surrounded by my own things and a stack of books on my desk to take to college in a week? I’m ready to wake up now. The joke has been going for long enough...

2

“Fresh meat!” Next to me, on the roof of our hall of residence, Kit crows as he leans forward, an excited look on his face. “Oh, I’d totally do her. Yes, please.”

I smack his arm, snickering. “Of course, you would. Apart from the three of us, I don’t think there’s anyone you haven’t done at this school yet.”

He eyes me, looking me over, winking before he wiggles his eyebrows. “I totally would, you know... do you.”

I sigh, shoving at him. “Yeah, no thanks.” Then I look over the throng of students coming through the gates.

The new year has started. We finally made it to college, no longer constantly controlled by rules imposed by teachers. We’re actually allowed to leave the damn grounds of this campus when we want to, so much more freedom.

“Where is she?” This is an elite of the elite academy for the four surrounding kingdoms, almost everyone here is either part of the royal families of our races or related to important people. This means that we’ve basically all grown up together, we don’t get a lot of new people, especially not now we’ve reached college. So a new girl joining us is interesting.

Finn points over the crowd with one of his long pale fingers, moving his arm as she’s probably making her way to one of the halls. “Dark brown hair, army boots and looking like the world owes her some sort of explanation for what she’s going through. I agree with Kit, she’s pretty.”

I follow his finger, catching sight of a face I didn’t expect to see here, especially without warning. “That’s her.” My heart skips a beat. She’s grown up well, she’s not just pretty, she’s stunning. Her full red lips, her blazing eyes, full of anger, the dark hair framing her delicate face. Wow.

“Her? Are you sure?” Rune, who has been dozing off in the morning sun on my other side, also sits up. “No way.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” Her, Litha Vigil, the one girl who could break our whole friendship apart. The one girl fated to marry one of us and finally bring peace to the centuries-old struggles between our countries and races. The prophesied girl-to-be-queen who went missing just hours after being born.

At least, that’s what people think. I know that my dad has been part of a secret group who protect her. Who have been protecting her until she’s old enough to come back to our world.

And here she is, just walking through the gate like nothing is wrong. She’s back.

I’m surprised Dad didn’t say anything, or put extra security in place to protect her, even at the academy... This may be neutral ground, right in the centre of the four countries, but there have been assassination attempts on people on campus before. Two years ago, when we were still in secondary school, just a campus over from here, someone tried to assassinate Rune. Rune is the dragon’s crown prince. We were lucky that the assassins didn’t expect three more princes to show up, ready to protect him and fight them off. But that had been a close call. Way too close.

“So, that’s her...” Kit follows her with his eyes, a rare glimpse of seriousness crossing his face. “The girl. The queen.”

I guess it’s one thing to know that there is a girl out there who will be your fated mate, who will bring peace to the kingdoms when she marries you, who will bring an end to all the fights and struggles. But to finally see her... I never expected this heavy feeling inside.

And after the years of friendships with the other guys, knowing that she will have to choose one of us over the others and break us apart... We all knew it was going to happen, but are we ready?

Litha is beautiful. I want her. Even from this distance, the wolf inside me growls to be with her, I want to touch her and feel her, taste her. I want her to be mine. But that will also bring an end to our years of friendship...

For her to choose one of us means that that kingdom will be the one to rule all the kingdoms, that the royal lines of the others will stop being...

Peace under a single ruler, but at what cost?

“Bane! Rune! Kit! And, seriously, Finn?” Dad is standing in front of the building, frowning as he looks up at us. “Get down from there. Now! Roofs are not made for sitting. How many times am I going to have to tell you that?” He shakes his head. “Honestly, if your parents could see you now...” He glares up at us. “Get down.”

Kit lets out a laugh as he stands up, his wings magically unfolding behind him, ripping through his shirt, and he jumps down, showing off a silly trick before he lands neatly next to Dad. Rune partially shifts into a dragon, keeping most of his body humanoid, but his torso and his wings are from his dragon form, then he jumps off too and lands next to Dad.

I stand up too, taking a step back and then jump down, my legs shifting to wolf-legs halfway down, and I land easily, my legs bouncing upon impact before going back to human. Then I grin at Dad. “Well, my parent did see what I was doing.”

Dad rolls his eyes at me, sighing deep. “Yeah, you’re lucky your uncle didn’t, though.” My family is part of the royal line of the werewolves. My uncle, Dad’s older brother, is the king, but after losing my cousin a couple of years back, I’m now next in line, since Dad gave up on his title when he became headmaster at the academy.

“Guys! Really?!” Finn is still standing on the roof, glaring down at us. “Showoffs. Ugh.” Then he climbs back through the window in the roof, disappearing from view. He has to take the stairs inside to get down from the roof. Finn is fae, they don’t have wings or the ability to partially shift into an animal, which can be annoying for him, as we sometimes forget about it, since it’s so natural for us. But then, he has his own things he can do, which are much cooler than a set of wings or becoming a wolf, a lot scarier too...

I glance Dad’s way. “I didn’t know Litha would be coming here today.”

Dad doesn’t look my way, instead looking at the main building on campus, where most of our classes are held and where his office is, before he answers. “We weren’t sure she’d come. Her parents didn’t agree for her to be here, and I hadn’t heard otherwise from them. But it seems that she’s here, yes.” Then he straightens up and glares at each of us individually. “Try to not get into too much trouble this year, would you? I’d prefer no chats with angry kings and queens. Also, breakfast is in half an hour in the main hall, I expect you all there. Tell Finn that he can’t get out of it, he has to show up.” Then Dad walks off to the staff building, which is also where he stays when he’s on campus.

“Seriously?” Kit groans. “I don’t want to eat with the others. I hate the staring.” Then he glares my way. “He’s just showing us off. It’s unfair.”

Rune wraps his arm over Kit’s shoulder. “Of course he’s going to show us off, we’re the crown princes. Just...” Rune looks at the house behind me, the building where the four of us are staying, since we can’t just mingle with the common royals. “I hope Finn will be okay.”

Poor Finn. His great-grandfather, the grandfather of the current King, waged a devastating war against the dragon shifters, forcing them off their lands, giving them the ‘choice’ to go into servitude for the fae or to flee. A lot of dragon shifters were killed during the war, some having stayed behind in servitude, while others have fled to other countries or are hiding in places that you can’t find unless you know to look for them.

This, of course, hasn’t made the fae very popular and Finn has been getting the brunt of the anger ever since we’ve known him. He can’t help what his great-grandfather did, what his grandfather did, or what his father is currently doing, he hates all of it, but that doesn’t stop people from taking their anger out on him. The only thing he can do is to try to be better and hope that he can change things as soon as he comes into power...

Rune’s family has been in hiding ever since the fae took over their land. Nobody knows where they are staying, I don’t even think Rune knows, it’s all being kept hidden with strong magic. Dragons are pretty good at hiding what they love most, their lairs, and that’s what his family has been doing, staying hidden away. That he’s been allowed to attend the academy, even after the assassination attempt, still surprises me.

But then... if the fate of all the kingdoms will depend on Litha choosing one of us to marry, making that race the definitive ruler of the four kingdoms... I guess that it makes sense to make sure that he’s near the rest of us, so that he gets a chance to get his family out of hiding and back into power...

“Bane.” Rune puts his arm over my shoulder. “Stop thinking so much, you’re getting wrinkles. You’re not your dad, you’re just you, you don’t have to think so much. It’s not all on you.”

I let out a short laugh, smacking him on his back. “You would say that.” Especially because he can be such a worrier himself. Then I look back at the building, and Finn steps out the front door. “I guess we better tell him about the breakfast thing...”

Rune groans, I feel the sound vibrating in his chest against my arm. “You tell him. Your dad is making us do this.”

“Really?” I glare his way, but he just smugly grins at me. “You’re playing that card now?”

“Yep, I will, all four glorious years we’re here.” He tugs on Kit and then drags us both towards Finn.

Great...

3

When the headmaster says that we have to show up for breakfast, it doesn’t mean just as students, it means that we have to dress up all nicely so that he can show off that we’re attending his academy and that our families think it’s safe enough for us to do so, even with the rising conflicts in some of the countries. Ugh.

Sure, as an incubus, I like the attention on me, but not when I’m being shown off like some prized animal or something. There is no pride and honour in being paraded around.

A light knocking on the dressing room door makes me look up. “Yeah?” I growl as I put my tie on, I hate ties, they always tangle.

The door opens, and Rune steps in, all suited up already, and not for the first time, I go rock hard for him in seconds. Rune smirks as he comes closer, not saying anything, just reaching out and fixing my tie. His hands move in a controlled way, strong, steady, and when I look up into his stone grey eyes, they’re steady as a mountain. As he touches me, the tension seems to leave my body for the first time since I went back home for the summer.

His hand moves up, cupping my cheek, and I involuntarily close my eyes. “That’s better.” His voice is low, coarse, like gravel, which makes sense, with him being an earth-dragon and all. “Rough summer?”

I nod. My kingdom may not be all taken over by fae like his is, but we’re bordering on the Fae’s other side, and there have been increased confrontations at the border. All summer, my parents alternated between fucking their brains out to deal with the stress and the politics and asking if I’d ‘seen my fated wife already’, and if I couldn’t go out and find her, stop this mess forever. Being back here, with the guys, being where I really feel at home, I finally start to feel like myself again.

But now Litha has shown up, changing everything again. I can’t even get away from all the politics at the academy this year.

Rune’s thumb lingers on my bottom lip, and while I’d love to disappear from the world for a while, let out all this frustration on him, I know that we don’t have the time, and I’m not in the right mindset. Bane may think that the three of them are the only ones I don’t fuck around here, but Rune has regularly been my partner for years now.

I take a step back, swallowing hard, my dick straining in my slacks. “We should be going soon.”

He nods, smiling softly. “That’s why I came here. The others are waiting for us downstairs.”

I growl, pushing at his chest. “You could have said that immediately, you dick.” Instead of trying to mess with my head. Instead of making me feel good... I stalk out of the dressing room, down the hallway, and see the other guys waiting near the door, impatient.

Rune slips past me, his fingers lingering on my arm. “You know you love my dick, don’t try to deny.” And he’s off again, not helping the state of my cock. Fuck. Being an incubus can be fun, but unlike in our kingdom, people here seem to actually expect me to show up to classes and meeting and such at reasonable times, meaning, on the time it starts. Dawdling for a quick fuck in the staircase is not appreciated, no matter how much I’d like to do it.

When we walk to the main hall, we pass a lot of student houses and other buildings, as ours is the furthest away. All around, people either greet us or glare at us, or, I don’t know, look at us with that strange look that looks somewhat like lust, but not specifically for our body, but more for who we are. Like worshipping, they stare and stare, but never come closer.

Bane bumps his shoulder into mine and points at one of the windows in a tower in the main building. “The lights are on.”

During an ‘inspection’ of the grounds late last year, when Bane’s father let us on the grounds for a few days so that we could explore and learn the layout before it would crowd again, right before we had to go home for the summer. We found that that specific tower, and that floor, held some ancient prophecy texts, and some newer prophecy texts too.

We couldn’t find much about our own prophecy before Bane’s dad caught us, but what we had seen... We knew we had to get back there as soon as we could, explore more. There are always parts of prophecies that aren’t told, that are kept hidden, parts that are too vague, or too precise, or that the oracles think may be too dangerous to release to the public. We want to find out which parts of our prophecy weren’t released.

But it seems there is someone in there right now, looking through those files, looking through what we want to find. “Do you think it’s because Litha is here?” It feels weird to say her name, we never called her by her name, even though we knew it, it felt wrong, she was too big for a simple name. But now I’ve seen her, now I know who she is, her name fits her.

Bane shrugs, his eyes going up to the windows again. “We’d have to find out.”

“Tonight?” I keep my voice low, the others don’t need to know what we’re up to.

Bane nods. “As soon as it’s dark.” We may have more freedom at the academy, they still don’t appreciate us going hunting through books and files that we’re not supposed to see.

“Do you think it’s because your dad knows that we know about what’s in that room? And now that she’s here...” My stomach flips just remembering what Litha looked like, the heat in her gaze, scorching. I wouldn’t mind being on the other end of that passion...

“I don’t think so. Or he would have moved things away back then.”

“What if he already has?”

Bane shakes his head. “He wouldn’t do that without telling me. He’d tell me something like that, even just to let me know that looking again would be useless, to tell me off.” He sighs. “If it’s Dad up there... Maybe he has a reason. If it’s not him... Who else would want to go there?” There is that dark look in his eyes again. Bane really thinks too much, takes it all onto his shoulders. He’s always been more grown-up than the rest of us, always thinking ahead, always being levelheaded, and he always looks so lonely, even when he’s with us, like he’s lost in his own world.

Ahead of us, Rune and Finn are joking around, teasing each other. Rune showing his silly side, making Finn laugh out loud, something that’s rare to ever happen.

I glance to the side, maybe Bane is always so serious because he knows what’s at stake, not just because he’s one of us, a crown prince, a fated prince, but because he’s his father’s son. The headmaster is stern but reliable, providing a way for all our races to mingle on school grounds, trying to keep the politics out of our lives. But Bane isn’t like the rest of us, he knows too much. Always being around his dad, he sees the things that none of us ever see, the politics his Dad has to deal with every day.

I was the first one to arrive at the academy this morning. Everything was still quiet, and the headmaster had been waiting at the gate, not even surprised when he saw me. After dropping my bags off in my room, not that there was much to drop off, as my things had already been sent ahead last week, I went back out the door and sat on the steps in front of our hall.

Finn was the second one of us to arrive, his body tense, his eyes dark, lines in his face I hadn’t seen before. When he first saw me, he’d flinched and I knew that I wouldn’t ask him about his summer, not with that look in his eyes. He looked haunted. For him, going back home is like torture. None of us like going home for the summer, being at the school is safe and comfortable, but for him, going home is even worse. His father, his family... He hates them, and he still has to go back, face those people every day for months, against his will.

After a short greeting, he went out the back of the house, to the training field, and I listened on as he worked his frustration out on the training dummies there, his sword hitting the wooden dummies loudly.

While watching him work out would have been a sight for sore eyes, his shirt clinging to his strong frame, his muscles moving under his skin, I knew that he couldn’t be disturbed.

So, I stayed on those steps, the sounds of his frustration the only noises for a long time, until Bane arrived and he decided that we all needed to hang out and have some fun. So I went inside with him and Finn also came back in.

Right in the middle of playing a game on the TV on a console Bane had been able to smuggle from his parents’ place, Rune had slipped into the living room, the quiet way only he can and had joined us, completing the group.

Completing us.

Until Litha arrived at the academy and changed everything. We’ve been friends for such a long time, but just her showing up in our lives like this could be the end of it, and I’m definitely not looking forward to that future.

I guess that no matter how much we try to keep our lives simple, we always knew that this was going to happen at some point. We’d always known it, so why am I dreading this change?

4

I slip through the heavy wooden doors into a large hall filled with tables and people. This is the main hall, I’m supposed to have breakfast here...

When I got to ‘my’ room, I’d started looking through the backpack and then the suitcase. I had no idea what I should expect since I had no idea what my parents would have packed for me, but I’d found mostly very plain things in the suitcase, like clothes, a couple of books I love to read, very much plain and boring college items, nothing really exciting. Which was a disappointment.

After having gone through both my bag and suitcase, I’d gone onto exploring my room. I’m sharing the room with some other girl, but the woman who pointed me towards my room told me that she wouldn’t be arriving yet, so I’d have the room to myself for at least a while, settle in and everything.

The setup is simple, beds on either side of the room, with desks and shelves next to them, all mirrored. The style is old, not very modern, but the bed is sturdy, and everything seems well built. I don’t know what I expected from a magical school, but a room like this definitely wasn’t part of it, it’s almost too normal. The shelves on my side of the room had books on them on general subjects like history, but not much more, leaving space for me to put my own things on them.

Of course, as I was going through everything, I’d lost track of time, and when I’d finally left my room again, the whole building had been quiet. Luckily, there had been an adult to show me in the direction of the main hall, sighing as they gave me instructions.

Yeah, being late for breakfast on my first day is probably not a good start, and I was getting hungry too, so I do hope I’m still on time to eat.

I slip into a seat at the end of one of the tables closest to the door, trying to not get too much attention on myself. From a couple of seats down, the girl with the red eyes from before smirks at me, it seems that she hadn’t been on time either. I smile her way a little, I guess that even at magical schools, some people are just always the late ones, like me.

At the front of the hall, an older guy is standing behind a stand, talking about the new year and about improving ourselves and being the best version of who we are and doing things to the best of our abilities. Regular start of the year stuff. He does look somewhat familiar though, like I’ve seen him before, but I can’t exactly remember when or where. Maybe he just looks like someone who looks like someone or something.

Then my eyes are pulled to the side, to a table with four guys sitting at it. The table is as big as the one I’m sitting at, a table which can easily hold up to eight people, but it’s just the four of them at that table. They’re all sitting on the same side of the table, looking over the room, like they’re being displayed or something, all dressed up in suits and everything, making me feel very underdressed in my jeans and t-shirt.

The guy closest to the front of the hall looks intense, a constant frown on his face, like someone who is always thinking too much, his eyes serious. But I can see his broad shoulder muscles straining the fabric of his jacket, his strong jaw and his hair is a shaggy dark brown, sticking out at all angles, like someone ran their fingers through it during sex.

Not that I would know what that would look like in real life, my parents were way too controlling to let me date, let alone be alone with a boy. But after reading enough erotic romance novels —a girl has got to get her rocks off somehow, right?— I came up with a pretty good mental image of what post-sex hair would look like and my fingers itch with the need to run them through his hair, to see if my mental image is right.

The guy next to him is broad too, but more in his bone structure, he’s all sharp angles, like a statue, but not one of those delicate roman statues, but more like blocky Egyptian ones. He looks hard like a brick and built like a wall, like he could protect you from anything that would endanger you, wrapping his body around yours and holding off any and all danger. His hair is cropped short, and, from here, it looks almost grey, though that’s probably the light. I’d love to be held by him, feel his strong touch, letting him carry me around wherever I want to go, but most of all, I’d love to know what he’d feel like under me as I touch him…

The third guy is the smallest of the four of them, though he’s probably still taller than I am. He exudes sex and sexual energy, the smirk he’s flashing, his full lips, his smouldering eyes. He’s slimmer than the others, but what I can see of his arms, since he’s rolled up his sleeves, is that he’s all slim muscle, slender but solid.

He says something and the second guy lets out a low, rolling laugh, which makes the third guy chuckle and I squeeze my legs together, suddenly being filled with heat in my core, my whole body thrumming with lust. I can imagine him whispering dirty things in my ear as he roams his nimble fingers over me, slipping under my shirt and touching my skin, his touch scorching me wherever he goes.

Okay, moving on, because this is definitely not something I should be thinking about right in the middle of the main hall. Especially not when I’m surrounded by so many people.

The final guy at the table looks more reserved, his long black hair pulled back tightly, his shoulders straight, his hands flat on the table in front of him. He doesn’t really seem to fit in with the other guys, too different from them, more like ice in comparison to the warmth of the rest.

Then he moves his head and meets my eyes straight on, and a shiver goes down my spine, pooling more heat at my core, making me squirm in my seat.

His eyes are green like summer leaves, which becomes even more obvious as they widen when they connect to mine, something akin to a faint blush spreading over his pale skin, and his tongue flicks out to wet his lips.

Out of nowhere, I want to kiss him. I want to try if his lips are as cool as they look, or if they’re warm like his eyes. I want to try if he smells like the forest that his eyes remind me of, a forest at the end of a summer day, still warm from the sun during the day, the scent of the trees and plants all around me as the temperature slowly starts to drop.

When he looks away, the spell breaks, and I feel my skin heat up, a blush spreading all over me and I touch my hands to my cheeks, trying to cool them down. I can’t believe I just stared at them so openly. They look like celebrities or something, and here I am, the new girl, gaping at them and getting turned on like some silly fangirl or something.

Luckily, the man at the front stops talking and the doors open, people carrying trays of food and drinks crowd into the hall, letting me hide my embarrassment.

And right as I dare to look up, the scent of black magic reaches me. Black magic as in coffee, I mean, the nectar of the gods. Though, in this place... I don’t know if that sentence would mean something else.

I’ve got so much to learn...

As I walk out of the hall, the sexy guys having left shortly after the food arrived, probably much too good for the food us commoners have to eat, I’m finally feeling a little more human, or should that be like a witch?

The coffee here is good, I have to admit that, and the croissants and eggs were done to perfection. But there was a little too much meat for my taste on the table, and most of it was raw. Only, after seeing some of my table mates eat... I guess that tastes really do differ here.

“Hi.” The girl with red eyes from before walks up next to me, she looks perkier now. “I saw you stare at the princes. They’re sexy, right?” There is almost an element of swooning in her voice. “Of course, apart from that fae.” The last words is near a growl.

“Princes?” What?

“You’re really not from around here, eh?” She takes my elbow, and we step out of the stream of people, off the cobblestone path, onto some fields. All around us are students, chatting excitedly with each other, probably catching up on their summer fun or something. “I’m Aideen. I’m a first year. You?”

“Litha. Also first year. Go back, what do you mean, princes? Not like, real princes, right? Just celebrities?”

Aideen laughs, a rumbling sound, like a volcano about to erupt. “No, I mean real princes. There are four of them. Bane, crown prince to the werewolves, he’s the one with the dreamy eyes. Then there is Rune, crown prince to the dragons, he’s like... their guardian or something. Then you have Kit, the incubus crown prince, he’s great in bed, I can attest to that, and so can most people on this campus, boys, girls and others alike.” Then her face darkens. “And then there is Finn, crown prince to the fae, he’s... You better stay away from him.”

“Why?” She seems really enthusiastic about the others, but not about Finn.

“His family, they...” This time, the growl she lets out is almost like a dangerous animal, a strong and dangerous animal. Scary. “They’re not good. But you’ll learn about that soon enough. First, tell me about yourself. Where are you really from, that you don’t even know about the princes?”

“Ehh...” Right.

How am I going to explain this? How do I know what to tell her and what would be too strange? A guide from someone would have been nice right about now...