CONVICTION OF THE DAMNED: SUPERNO ACADEMY BOOK ONE Read online

  The pair of us headed back to the common room in blissful silence, my body aching from the run for the first time in a while. Having somebody to push me seemed to have worked; I was going to feel the burn of this workout tomorrow.

  The room was still empty when we arrived and as Xavier jumped on the sofa to scroll through his Portal, I made myself a coffee, careful to put it into my mug and then the microwave before grabbing a protein bar for pre-breakfast too.

  I placed it on the counter with my Portal and headphones, meticulously laying everything down exactly right before braiding my hair again. It took three attempts to get the style right, but I didn’t mind, it allowed me to properly put my breathing back to normal. I didn’t particularly want anyone to hear the lack of stamina that was screeching away thanks to my lungs.

  Xavier watched me intently as I headed upstairs for some fresh clothes and shower supplies. I didn’t like being observed like a science project, but I had to admit I liked his eyes on me. I was a sucker for hot bad boys even if I hated them.

  I wonder how many people he gets in his bed just from the way he fucks them with his eyes?

  “Can I help you stronzo?” I snapped with a half-assed glare. Xavier shook his head slowly, his hair falling out the bun and floating by his chin far too messy for my liking.

  “Nope; I was just noticing some things.” He replied.

  “Like what?”

  “Nothing important.” He sneered, turning away from me, and ending the conversation.

  A few choice swear words left my tongue and I chastised myself for caring what a person like him thought of me anyway.

  “Kat.” He said my fake name again as I left the kitchen.

  “What?”

  “I suggest you find a different route for your next run. I don’t particularly like having to share my mornings with a classless usurper. I let it slide today so I could see what your fitness was like but there was nothing of concern for me, so I’d prefer not to do it again.” Classless usurper? That’s a new one.

  Any idea I had of being better than the other Heirs was long gone, and the sting of his words hit my chest a little too much. But I was a big girl, I wasn’t about to get my feelings messed up by some jerk who had decided not to be rude to me for five minutes; I was better than that. At least that’s what I told myself over and over as I ignored him and ran up the stairs to my room, banishing all thoughts of Xavier from my mind forever like I should have done last night.

  Dari

  I hated waking up early. I don’t mean early by most people’s standards; I mean any time before double figures. Ideally, I wouldn’t rise until after lunch but considering I had no choice but to go to school, I had to force myself to climb out of bed by seven.

  It didn’t matter how much sleep I had I was always shattered before lunch. It was something that had plagued me for years and I made it impossible for me to think before I had coffee.

  Unfortunately, in my daze I had forgotten that I was not alone with my family; I shared a home now. When I dragged my sorry ass into the common room hunting for my morning caffeine, I didn’t consider the crowd of onlookers eager to see my bed hair and poor choice of sleepwear.

  “Looking good Princess.” Ryder teased, as he and the other Heirs started to leave the room for breakfast.

  I watched him look me up and down, his gaze lingering on the bare skin of my tanned thighs and stomach a little too long. I had slept in a white t-shirt I had tied at my waist and tiny pink satin shorts, never intending to be in a room full of people to see me.

  I wasn’t shy with my body, but the way Ryder was staring made those damn butterflies come back with a vengeance and I refused to think anything but bad thoughts about him. For a bloodsucker he was hot; it was such a shame about the personality beneath that pretty mask. He may have been a little nice last night, but he was still an idiot.

  My hands ran through my hair and lifted it off my neck, securing a bun on the top of my head, before coming down to stick my middle finger up at the Heirs when they nit-picked about my shorts being too short.

  “Nice hair.” Mikel commented, and I debated throwing a mug at his head. I was grumpy before coffee, especially when I was accosted in my own makeshift living room.

  Messy buns only looked good on the internet, in real life they made you look like you’d just come off a three-day bender, and I certainly wouldn’t be shamed for wearing what I wanted. Who were they to judge me?

  “Have a shit day.” I shouted.

  “The coffee is still hot; you look like you need one.” Ryder added as his friends laughed and headed out the door to go pull the back legs off of grasshoppers or whatever it was they did for fun.

  He may have been right in his observation but screw him for saying it. I was well aware I was a state.

  “L’unica cosa di cui ho bisogno è che te ne vada a fanculo.” The only thing I need is for you to fuck off. I replied sweetly to his retreating body, before pouring myself the biggest mug of coffee that I could find and returning to my room to find something semi acceptable to wear.

  ***

  My sisters were lounging about my room, each one busy with the final touches of their look.

  “This is it girls; the first dawn of our brand-new lives in this made-up country.” Kaida’s lips curled with the essence of a smile as we each stared out the window at the morning light. “I thought I’d be excited but so far I'm nothing but terrified.”

  She had a point. I wasn’t scared, but I certainly wasn’t happy. It was still a little hard to believe that this was real, and I wasn’t going insane.

  “Same. I honestly thought that the idea of getting all this money would make me happy, but I kinda wish I were in our apartment still.” Laina shrugged her shoulders, her slender arms wrapping themselves around her bare knees as though hoping to protect her heart from the bitter cold truth.

  I had searched my entire life for power and control and now that I was here, I was desperate for enough power and money to protect my family for life, but only so long as my sisters wished to stick around and let me find it.

  “You look to pretty to be frowning like that.” Laina said, fluffing up Kaida’s hair a little and declaring us all perfect.

  Laina’s choice had been a pink floral dress that floated around her body like a cloud. Her hair had been braided into a crown and her makeup was simple and nude. Kaida had done her usual and covered most of her body with high-waist black pants and a long sleeve black blouse that tucked into her waistband.

  Her thigh high chunky heeled boots were an added precaution to hide herself away from the world – and a great spot to hide her knife. She had dressed this way in public for years and I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen her bared skin on purpose. The only difference to her today was the dark red lipstick I had nudged her in to wearing, and the fact she had decided to curl her hair.

  In my usual fashion I hadn’t bothered being as formal as them, figuring it was best to let everybody know how little I cared from the get-go despite being the most clothing obsessed of us all. My light blue jeans were oversized and mostly ripped, the large lilac t-shirt I had ‘borrowed’ from Laina was tied up at my waist, showing off the gang tattoo I stupidly decided to get last summer.

  I had paired it with some white sneakers and braids, and no makeup except lashes and gloss, complaining that this was the most amount of time I could put into clothes for my sisters; they would get nothing more from me at this godforsaken hour.

  “Are you sure we can’t just skip this whole charade and rob the joint?” I asked, as the three of us headed arm in arm towards the building called the Green Room that we had been in last night.

  Tory had headed out there early, wanting to save us a table. I hadn’t seen Allie since last night and she seemed a little flaky, so couldn’t tell for sure if she would be joining us or not.

  “If we skip, we get no money, so unfortunately we have to suck it up.” Kaida muttered, scratching her neck a little
bit where that freak of a vampire had bitten her. There was barely a mark left but Kaida would know it was there, she said she could feel it still, like a pool of ice stinging her beneath the surface.

  I had wanted to kill Caleb for touching her, knowing just how badly she would have hated it, but I was stuck being a weak little girl without enough magic to go against him. In the mortal world I had been unstoppable; stronger than most grown men I had faced. But here I seemed to be at the bottom of the proverbial food chain, and it was not something that sat comfortable with me for more reasons than one.

  To say I was frustrated was an understatement.

  “I'm going to become the best in every damn lesson, just so I can blow up that stupid bloodsucker.” I growled, relishing in the small smile on Kaida’s face.

  “Same here. I'm going to make him beg for his life one day.” She grinned at me, hooking her arm through mine.

  “We will be fine if we stick together, so let’s just make sure we do.” Laina said as we came to the door to the Green room.

  Thoughts of revenge were pushed down my daily to do list as I tried not to think about all the concerns that were building in my chest; we were here on our first day, and things were about to get a lot more real.

  “Always.” My sisters replied together as the three of us pushed open the doors and made our entrance.

  Holy shit that’s a lot of people; it looks even busier in the daylight.

  “Fuck.” Kaida mumbled as hundreds of eyes turns to us immediately and the whispers began. I stuck out her chin, meeting the eyes of anyone who had bothered to stare at us. I would not bow my head; let alone for a bunch of people I didn’t know.

  The three of us headed inside to the food station actively pretending we didn’t care about a thing. Kaida grabbed three breakfast sandwiches as I grabbed some coffees, leaving Laina as she floated between the serving staff introducing herself and being nice. She was such a sweet girl and refused to ever treat anybody as less than her, even if she was a newfound princess.

  It was a trait of hers I coveted more than anything considering my go to in these situations was to be a bitch to anyone in sight.

  “These are my beautiful sisters, the one in the bad jeans is Dari and the wannabe goth is Kaida.” Laina joked, trying to ease the tension.

  “I'm not a goth you bitch.” Kaida muttered under her breath, laughing as she returned to my side.

  We joined Tory’s table and began feasting, ignoring the nosy bastards and their stares. Luckily, the arrival of the Heirs only minutes later was enough of a distraction from us. It was hard not to notice the way the students stared adoringly at the people who thought we were their competition.

  One girl, a stunning red head, was practically drooling when Caleb looked her way. She flicked her long hair over her shoulder and batted her lashes like it was a sport. Her ass stuck out as she sashayed across the room towards her table and friends.

  If Caleb had found it attractive, he didn’t show it; he just carried on his conversation with Xavier and headed towards the couch I had seen them on our first night. Almost as if he knew I was looking, Xavier turned his head and spotted me, nudging his little gang members, and heading our way instead.

  My sisters stiffened and they quickly stood either side of me, forming a little triangle against the world.

  “Good morning girls, surprised you’ve not ran off back home yet.” Mikel stopped in front of us, his arm hanging around Bette’s shoulders and her hand in his back pocket.

  The two of them always seemed to be touching each other and I didn’t know whether to find it cute or weirdly possessive.

  “It was a good morning until you decided to interrupt us pesce, so how about you kindly leave?” I answered, a bright smile plastered falsely on my face as I called Mikel as fish.

  Ryder chuckled and I rolled her eyes at him, continuing to sip my coffee like we wasn’t in the middle of a potential argument.

  “I think you’ll find that we run things round here Annabella, so how about you start showing us a bit more respect?” Mikel snapped. What a stroppy little dickhead.

  “It’s too early for this shit, just tell us what you want then continue with your day.” I waved dismissively.

  Xavier dropped into the seat opposite Tory, his head tilted to the side as he stared at her menacingly, his dark hair fell loose from his bun, but he made no move to correct it.

  Bet Kaida is freaking and wanting him to fix his hair.

  “I know you had a rather strong attitudes during your arrival last night, and may I suggest you learn to behave, as hostility towards us could be seen as a sign of your intention with our crowns and that simply wouldn’t end well for you.” He snatched the bagel out of Tory’s hand and bit into it himself, chewing along without a care.

  Tory huffed but said nothing, clearly just as scared of repercussion as the rest of the school. I couldn’t picture her ever creeping up to the Heirs, but I doubted she would ever stand against them either. They had full control of this place and were here to make sure we didn’t interfere with that. I hate bullies with a fucking passion.

  “Don’t get your tiny dick in a twist; we haven’t said shit about wanting a crown stronzo.” I spat.

  I didn’t like confrontation but from the little I had seen last night Xavier and the other Heirs seemed the sort to thrive on it.

  “My dick isn’t tiny. Just ask your sister, she was practically drooling over it last night.” Xavier jutted his chin in Laina’s direction, and I burst out laughing seconds before my sisters did.

  How childish of a future king to make dick jokes.

  “Oh honey, you’re trying the wrong thing over there. Laina gets more pussy than all of you losers combined. In fact, I think she’d drink bleach before she considered looking anywhere near you, you overgrown bird.”

  Laina’s eyes widened at my words but she didn’t bother to correct me. I was lying about her promiscuity, but the Heirs didn’t need to know that. And besides, my overgrown bird comment attracted a couple of laughs from nearby students and that was worth a little of her embarrassment.

  “You’re gay?” Xavier asked. Laina nodded. “Cool. It was worth a shot.” He shrugged his shoulders and walked off with Mikel and Bette, smirking to himself like he had won something.

  Laina sat back down to eat her breakfast and so did I, leaving Kaida and Caleb in some sort of staring match they had been having the entire time. I was ashamed to say it had taken me so long to notice the way Caleb eyed Kaida up like she was his favourite snack.

  Ryder hadn’t made a move to go either, too busy watching the interaction between our siblings like me.

  “Are you gay too Kaida?” Caleb asked with a wicked grin, leaning towards her, almost touching her with his chest.

  “Leave her alone Cal; I don’t think its appropriate to ask people that.” Ember tutted, wiping away an invisible crumb off his white t-shirt.

  Caleb was a big guy with even bigger muscles, so it wasn’t exactly hard for him to dominate the room. I doubted personal space meant much to someone like him. He may have been shorter than his friends, but he radiated power like I radiated sass. He didn’t even acknowledge Ember’s words.

  “Nope.” Kaida replied, popping her lips on the P, and crossing her arms as she stiffened. “I’m straight.”

  “Excellent. Guess I’ll be seeing you around then sweetheart.”

  Caleb reached out to brush Kaida’s hair from her face with his hand and she flinched, almost throwing herself backwards to move out of his touch.

  “Keep your hands to yourself sanguisuga.” Leech. She hissed at him, her hands balling into fists by her side.

  “Come on Cal.” Ember’s gaze darted nervously to my sister.

  Caleb ignored his friend once more, laughing coldly at the hatred marring Kaida’s face. His ice blue eyes glistened with evil, and he took another step closer. Kaida didn’t back off this time, but I knew that inside her brain she would be screaming bloody murder.
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br />   I’m going to snap his neck. Unless Kaida beats me to it.

  “What you gonna do about it?” Caleb whispered, leaning so close that his breath would tickle, “I think you ought to learn your place in this school quickly love, otherwise life will be very painful for you.” He bent closer and Kaida braced herself for the oncoming bite.

  But instead of biting down he kissed her. One gentle peck on the bite mark from last night.

  “Enough Caleb.” Ember barked, his hazel eyes narrowing to slits. “Let’s go.” It seems Ember is the only one of them to have a single nice bone in his body.

  Caleb stepped back, licking his lips like a savage, and strolling away chatting with Ryder and Ember like he hadn’t just been pissing off my sister once again. The entire thing had been nothing but a power trip, but I knew that meant nothing to Kaida.

  Laina muttered Kaida’s name, attempting to get there first to comfort our sister before she exploded.

  “Stai bene?” Are you alright? Kaida shook her head twice and stormed off, muttering about going to the bathroom and seeing us in class. I debated following her for a second but chose not to, knowing it would only make things worse.