COVEN, Dreamwalker

Chapter 4

Elana & Eric

“You ready?” I ask as Eric pulls on his last trainer.

He gives me a look that says, Look at me; do I not look ready?

Simple answer: no.

He doesn’t.

His jeans are unzipped, his T-shirt has a visible stain, and I’m pretty sure he’s missing a sock.

But what do I know?

“Okay then.”

I place my hand on the front door handle and use my magic to create a transporter of sorts.

The magic settles beneath my palm, and when I pull the door open, the Academy grounds are waiting on the other side.

We step through, and once my hand leaves the handle, the doorway disappears, reverting back to being just a door.

Nifty lil trick my grandmother Luna Grace taught me.

“It’s not fair,” Eric whines.

I bite back a smile. “What’s not fair, brother dearest?”

I know what he’s going to say. He says it at least once a week.

“You can work teleportation spells, and I get lie detection and other simple magics.”

I purse my lips, trying not to laugh.

“I mean, we’re twins. We should be equal.”

I stop walking and look up at him.

“You do realise we’re not identical, right?” I ask, tilting my head.

“Yes, I just meant you have a deeper well of magic than I do—”

“And it’s not fair.”

He nods as though I’m agreeing with him.

I’m not.

I just can’t be arsed with this conversation any longer.

“Come on, Ric, we’re gonna be late. Today is testing day.”

He grimaces.

I smile.

Of course he’d hate today.

Today is the day we stop being kids and get sorted into classifications: Witch, Druid, Fae, Vampire, Wolf.

Then within those come our magical abilities: mixed abilities, Oracles and seers, elemental magic and healing. The last two contain their own subcategories.

Then there are the other ones.

Mind control. Mood control. Projection magics.

And probably another dozen things nobody bothers mentioning until someone accidentally manifests one.

One drop of blood and your path at the Academy changes.

For the next four years, you learn to become the best practitioner of your craft.

Unfortunately, if you happen to be Alpha-blooded or any other form of leadership within your classification, you also have to attend leadership classes.

Royalty included.

Lucky me.

By lunch, I’m over this day.

All anyone can talk about is the upcoming full moon feast.

I get it.

Some of them are already eighteen and can’t wait to be tied down.

Not me.

Which is why I wear this nifty little charm gifted to me by the Royal Seer. She told me it would hide my scent from my mate and his from me.

There was, of course, a warning attached.

If I happened to scent him out and he didn’t scent me, I’d still suffer the pains of betrayal.

So basically, don’t scent him.

Easy.

Which is why I was avoiding the stupid feast.

That and everyone asking me if their mate will be present. Everyone suddenly thinks I’m magical Tinder or something.

Just as I’m about to leave, Reha, one of the Royal Omegas, sits next to me.

“You know half the class is dying to ask you about the feast.”

I roll my eyes.

“I’m not in a sharing mood today,” I huff.

Reha doesn’t push.

She never does.

She turned eighteen last week; every member of the Royal household was present, and somehow she’s still managed to avoid becoming as mate-obsessed as everyone else.

I reach out and touch her hand.

The moment my flesh meets hers, my eyes roll back in my head, and my grip tightens around her wrist.

And then I see him.

Her mate.

An Alpha.

The worst kind.

The kind that treats women like dirty gym socks to be discarded after use.

The vision shifts.

Reha is on the floor.

Pain.

So much pain.

He doesn’t reject her.

No.

What he does is way worse.

He takes her home and mates another in front of her while she writhes in pain on the floor.

A Luna in name only, a voice whispers.

Then the vision stops.

My eyes fly open.

Reha is staring at me like I’m some kind of freak.

“Have your eyes always done that?”

“Done what?” I ask, pulling out a compact to look at my eyes.

Nothing.

Normal.

Inky blue, just like always.

Reha narrows her eyes.

“They flashed white. Not solid like a seer’s, but definitely white.”

Huh.

Strange.

I look at myself again.

Still blue.

I shrug and snap the compact shut.

“Well, they’re blue now.”

Reha gives me a look that says she finds that answer entirely inadequate.

Unfortunately for her, I glance down at my watch.

Shit.

I grab her hand.

“We’re late.”

“Lana—”

“Testing first. Freaky eyes later.”

And with that, I drag her towards the rugby field.

We make it just on time.

I spot Eric standing with a few of our other friends: Lucy and Dean Hale, the other Alpha twins in our year group, James North, Claire Wicks and Jordan West.

I sidle up next to Eric.

“What’d I miss?”

“Oh, nothing, just the seniors showing off,” he says, not moving his eyes from the front of the field where the teachers are gathered.

What he really means is our sister.

Nothing hurts an Alpha more than being outdone by his siblings.

The Headteacher takes the stand and explains how the afternoon will proceed.

First, we’ll be split into tutor classes, then asked to give a drop of blood. After that, we complete a physical, each one slightly different depending on Classification.

“Great, running,” Reha huffs.

I laugh.

She’ll be fine.

Reha might be an Omega, but Royal wolves aren’t exactly known for being weak, and she’s always been stronger than her rank suggests.

Someone asks what happens if they haven’t manifested yet.

The teacher sighs.

“That’s what the blood is for.”

Right.

Good to know.

As the tests progress, one thing becomes abundantly clear.

I don’t take well to losing.

Must be the Alpha in me.

Or the Royal.

Probably both.

The last part of the test is the results.

The part I’m dreading.

My powers have been sealed for as long as I can remember.

Every time I ask Mum about it, she says she doesn’t remember and that I’ll be fine because my power increases every few weeks.

Which, now that I think about it, isn’t really an answer.

When my name is called, I enter the testing room.

There’s a member of every Classification inside.

The leader of the group, a Vampire, asks me to confirm my name, rank and parentage.

I do.

They nod.

Then I recognise her.

She’s from the Royal Pack.

Belinda, I think.

She smiles as her name forms in my mind.

“You’re reading me?”

“Yes,” she replies.

Interesting.

Before I can think much more about it, I feel an odd prickling at the back of my mind.

I don’t like it.

So I force it to stop.

The feeling disappears.

“You felt that?” asks the seer.

I narrow my eyes slightly.

“My headache?”

Belinda laughs.

Nobody explains.

Apparently, I’m hilarious.

The witch brings out the vial containing my blood and pours a drop into a bowl of liquid.

The room flashes a multitude of colours.

I stare at the bowl.

Then at them.

Then back at the bowl.

“What does that mean?”

“Mixed abilities,” the witch replies. “We’d expect nothing less from Ellie’s daughter.”

I glance around the table.

They’re not being a hundred per cent normal.

There’s something in the way they look at each other, but before I can work out what it is, the witch makes a note on the paper in front of her.

“Thank you, Princess. You can collect your classification outside.”

And that’s that.

Well.

Helpful.

Next thing I know, I’m back out on the field holding a piece of paper that states:

Classification — Hybrid

Magical Abilities — Mixed

I stare at it.

Then turn it over.

Blank.

I turn it back.

Still the same two lines.

Nothing about what those abilities actually are.

Which is what it should say.

Eric appears beside me and peers over my shoulder.

“Well?”

I hold the paper up.

He reads it.

His eyebrows pull together.

“That’s it?”

“Apparently.”

“What does mixed mean?”

I look at him.

He looks at me.

I look back at the paper.

“Excellent question.”

“So they didn’t tell you?”

“Nope.”

“Huh.”

“Huh indeed.”

He takes another look.

I fold the paper and tuck it into my pocket.

I’m not particularly worried.

Not yet, anyway.

My magic has always been weird.

This is just confirmation.

Still…

I glance back towards the testing room.

Belinda is speaking quietly with the seer.

The witch joins them.

All three look in my direction before quickly returning to their conversation.

Huh.

Maybe a little weird.