Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 111353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
“Seeing as she earned her spot, and her badge, fair and square, she cannot be expelled,” he announced. “Therefore, you are all now looking at Abaddon Academy’s first human student.”
The heckling sounded immediately.
“Human, my ass,” someone snapped. “She’s a fucking witch, isn’t she! That winged shit had the right idea. Why shouldn’t we burn her now and get it over with!”
My heart leaped into my throat.
“She’s not a witch,” Erlik drawled with a certainty that made me lift my head in surprise. “Gods, I swear hell sent me its worst and dumbest this year. If she was a witch, wouldn’t she have blasted you horny fuckers to dust when you were clawing over each other to climb on top of her?” Again he spoke of gang rape the same way someone talks about how to make lemonade. “No witch alive would let a demon lay a finger on her and live.
“Witches don’t need to beg, bargain, or plead to use their power. It is always at their fingertips, and if she had a scrap, you weak cunts would be dust!” he barked. “Now stop fucking interrupting!”
He got back some choice insults in response, but as ordered, they quieted down quickly.
But my thoughts didn’t. Breaking through the fear, those words spun around in my head. A witch’s power is always at her fingertips? So why didn’t I know I had any until my dead mother told me?
“—since the admittance of this girl,” Erlik went on, “means this school is now coed, the headmistress has decided in all her wisdom to make this change permanent.
“Female demons, werewolves, vampires, and fae will now be allowed to attend Abaddon Academy for Men.”
I expected hooting, hollering, and lewd remarks. I braced myself for them, burrowing closer to Tristan... but none came.
No one made a sound.
“But...” a voice spoke up after a deep, pregnant silence. “We’ll die.”
Erlik barked a laugh. “Undoubtedly! All your asses are cooked the minute those ladies set foot in here, so, to minimize the damage, the headmistress has set down one final decree.
“Classes in Abaddon Academy will no longer be mixed. From this minute forth, vampires are confined to the south wing. Fae are confined to the north wing. Demons and humans are confined to the east wing. And werewolves—” Erlik spun on Tristan.
Wait, no!
“—are confined to the west wing.” He snapped his fingers and Tristan was gone.
Just like that. No shout. No time for argument. He winked out of the room and I crashed to the floor, picking up no end of lustful, leering smirks as I scrambled to my feet.
“Anyone,” Erlik said, his gaze piercing me through, “who violates the new rule and crosses into a wing that is not their own—will be expelled from Abaddon Academy. And just so there is no confusion, girl,” he spoke to me and only me. “Expelled means executed.”
“B-but—” I rasped. “I—”
“And considering what a temptation you’d be for one professor in particular,” Erlik went on, “Radu will also be confined to the south wing, so all of you prepare yourself for a new instructor, and purge all the lies told by the one before.”
My bowels loosened. If I’d had a chance to eat or drink anything before these announcements, it would all be leaking out of my shorts.
Not only was Tristan gone, but now the only other person in this school who was interested in me staying alive was gone too.
“But, sir!” I burst out.
“Classes are out for the rest of the week.” Erlik turned away, dismissing me like I was no longer there. “To give our new lady students time to transfer and settle in. Now fuck off.”
I fucked off.
Tearing out the door, I raced to my dorm and barricaded myself in like there were demons on my tail.
Because there were.
Chapter Three
Ispent the rest of the week holed up in my room—surviving on water from the sink and the leftover snacks Lucifer packed in my suitcases. My only lifelines keeping me from dissolving into fear were studying my textbooks for any mention of hallows, fire, water, wood, or wind. And talking to Tristan on DeadDrop.
Finding his username was easy since it was literally his name. Back and forth, we talked about easy, simple things like our lives before meeting in Abaddon Academy. I appreciated that for what it was—an attempt to distract me from what awaited me when I finally walked out that door.
Sabrina said it herself, I thought as I flipped through History of Hell for the second time. You can’t expect to stay enrolled in a school if you’re not going to class. She also said holing up in some corner of the manor won’t work either. I have to go to class, or I have to leave Abaddon Academy.
I flicked to my phone for the fiftieth time, jaw clenching as I remembered the only other username allowed to receive messages from mine.