CONVICTION OF THE DAMNED: SUPERNO ACADEMY BOOK ONE Read online

  “Sorry. I don’t mean to be a nightmare.” Dari grinned, pinching my cheek like she could hear what I thought.

  “You should wear the green co-ord.” I blurt out, somehow knowing that Dari had to wear a certain thing tonight. “With the gold jewellery, specifically the hoops.”

  My sister stared at me for the briefest moment before shrugging and chucking on the outfit I selected without a word about it. I always waited for her to question me or even say no but she never once did.

  Dari had been listening to me without question long before I had been saving her from prison. Kaida did too, not that she ever really needed my help.

  “Can I wear my air force, or will the sky fall down?” Dari teased me once dressed.

  I refused to bite back, knowing that I had no explanation for my words anyway. Dari did as I asked because I was her sister, but why did I even know things in the first place? I was lucky to have hit the sibling jackpot with their lack of questioning against my judgement, but I knew that in the rest of the real world I would be labelled as a freak of nature and banished to the depths of whatever loony bin would have me.

  Seeing things in the future, or even knowing anything at all about our lives, was just strange and abnormal and I wished I could have hated myself for being that way. But the truth was I loved it and would never trade an ounce of my freak for anything. It had saved my family on more than one occasion and that was good enough for me, even if I did have nightmares all the damn time.

  The door knocked three times as my watched beeped, signalling that it was indeed three pm on the dot. The boiler man Pablo had hired was clearly an excellent timekeeper. That or he had been warned than even a second of bad time keeping would result in him being banished violently from our apartment.

  “Stay the fuck in your seat Kai! I’ll get it.” Dari shouted, and the pair of us almost ran to the front door.

  Kaida had done as she was told and had not moved an inch from the chair where she sat meditating. Her eyes refused to open, and her peaceful state remained the same. She showed no outward signs of distress, and it was now up to me and Dari to keep her that way.

  “If he even looks at you funny then I’ll kill him and hang his balls on our wall.” Dari whisper promised to Kaida, earning the tiniest of laughs. There was no doubt in my mind Dari would do exactly what she promised.

  The strangeness in my body was ramping up and I had the feeling that whatever was behind our door was going to change that. Something was in the air, and I was at the cusp of finding out what it was. The door knocked again, three short bangs of a fist.

  “Be nice.” I warned Dari, as she unlocked the three bolts we had chained up.

  “I'm always nice.” She muttered, pulling the door wide with a faux smile plastered on her face. “Hel-” Dari stuttered.

  Time slowed down a touch as the door swung open and the most attractive man I had ever seen waltzed through. I had known my entire life I loved women, but there was something about this stranger that even I could appreciate. He was tall, blonde, and flawless, like a Viking from centuries ago. His strong jaw and high cheekbones paled in comparison to the satisfied grin across his marble face.

  His clothes were simple but expensive; a blue jean and t-shirt combo that were not appropriate for the rain outside or the job he was supposed to be doing. The only hint that he cared for the weather were the mud-stained boots on his ridiculous sized feet. They probably weren’t that huge, but I wasn’t used to seeing shoes any bigger than a size eight.

  I lifted my gaze to meet his, instantly falling into the green eyes from my vision earlier on. The world around me began to lighten and the knot in my stomach vanished without a trace.

  “Hello girls,” He said, as the ache inside my body ran off in exchange for a serenity I couldn’t explain, “I’ve been looking for you for a while. I think its best that I come inside.”

  Dari

  I was in serious trouble. Either the green-eyed-man was an undercover cop, or he was a complete deranged axe murderer. How else would I explain him being at my door, waltzing into my home like he owned the place?

  “Who are you?” Laina asked, her head tilted to the side and her eyes fogging over just a touch. She spoke to the intruder kindly, like he was a long-time friend she had just bumped into again in the middle of a store.

  I was less polite with my questioning on account of how he had tried to force me to talk to him earlier on, and the fact I had no desire to have my face turned into a skin-mask or whatever it was he was in to.

  “What the fuck are you doing here stronzo? Get out!” Merda! Shit!

  The man didn’t seem to mind my tone which meant he either didn’t know what I had done earlier to Roscoe, or simply didn’t think I was a threat to him. I would get the last laugh either way when I pound his head into the wall until he took the hint. He may have looked like a football player, but I chucked around men ten times his size for entertainment on the weekend.

  The man, who I affectionately nicknamed Jason, swept round me, eyeing the room with suspicion, before settling his gaze on the three of us. Kaida hadn’t move out her chair yet, but her eyes were wide open and focused entirely on the threat.

  “What do you want?” I snapped, yanking his shoulder so he turned to face only me instead. I didn’t need Kaida being scared by this lunatic.

  Jason looked me up and down with a puzzled expression, like he couldn’t fathom how on Earth this little girl had moved him so forcefully. It was a look I was used to seeing but his was the first to make me query it myself.

  Something about the question inside his stare made my skin crawl.

  “I want you to get me a glass of water.” Jason said, breaking his stare. For some unknown reason I did exactly as he asked. A part of me knew I didn’t make the decision to move but the rest of me wanted to do it with a fierce desire. The world would end if I didn’t get this stranger a drink, I just knew it.

  As I hurried to make a glass of water, I entered the unknown territory of politeness and manners, much to the befuddlement of my family.

  “Dari?” Kaida muttered my name as I handed Jason his drink, suspicion in her tone. I didn’t know any more than she did, but I desperately wanted to answer her with something.

  I didn’t get drinks for people I liked, let alone strangers. The last time I had made either of my sisters a drink was last Christmas and most likely due to the fact I had been drunk as hell and felt like being nice for a change. It wasn’t that I was lazy or anything, I was just used to Laina doing nice things like that before I could.

  Once the glass left my hand I returned to normal, absolutely no desire to be Jason’s skivvy anymore.

  “What kind of name is Dari? Is it even a real name? I still don’t believe you didn’t just make it up.” Jason asked, as he strode towards the dark blue armchair opposite Kaida, dropping down into it with a huff.

  His long legs strained against his jeans and his army style boots glistened in the low light from the ceiling. I had the faintest urge to go and sit on his lap and see what was under his shirt before remembering that my libido was never something that I should listen to. It never ended well when I entertained my ridiculous thoughts.

  Kaida flinched at Jason’s proximity, her mouth opening slightly as endless possibilities ran through her dark mind. Laina was the first to comfort her as she sat down in the spare chair and they held hands, no doubt silently discussing our current predicament. I remained on my feet, refusing to budge an inch until this creep explained himself or ran off back to the pit he crawled from.

  Ignoring Jason’s jibe about my name I carried on my earlier questioning, willing to wait a few minutes at best before I added another body to my hit list.

  “Tell me what you want stronzo,” I snarled at him, my arms folded across my chest and my eyes narrowed, “or get the fuck out of my chair.”

  I thought I sounded scary, but Jason laughed at me, as though I was nothing more than an irritating little puppy he had
watched misbehave.

  “Oh Nakoa give me strength.” He prayed, “Calm down Princess, I don’t mean any harm. I’ve simply come to pass along a few messages.” Who the fuck is Nakoa?

  The Princess title he used got under my skin. I wasn’t a damn Princess; I was a beast. The sooner he learnt that the better.

  “Let me make myself clear.” I began, but with a wave of his hands and a few words my mouth snapped shut faster than a sprung mouse trap.

  “Be quiet for a moment.”

  Jason spoke with that strange sense of power again, and I couldn’t stop myself from obeying his command. I nodded my head at him like I was his puppet, as I joined my sisters on the couch, the three of us facing him like sitting ducks waiting for the hunter’s shotgun blast.

  Internally I was screaming as Jason examined us one by one, but I never once muttered a sound. My voice no longer worked; it was trapped.

  “Now ladies, I shall say this only once.” He moved forward in my chair, edging closer to us and faint scent of lemon hit my nose.

  “You are going to stay calm and listen to me for a while.” We all gave him our full attention and he beamed, his features becoming younger for a moment. There was no way he was much older than us; he had to be in his early twenties at best.

  Jason cleared his throat and folded his hands over his lap. His fingers were slender and strong and for the tiniest second, I wondered what it would be like to have them round my throat. Damn libido.

  “Since you turned eighteen the magic that hid the three of you from my realm wore off, and your powers were visible to my kind from a world away. And I mean that literally.” He began, much to my amusement. I thought he had come here to arrest me or murder us, but it seemed I had missed the mark quite a bit.

  Jason was clearly insane and not in a fun way. All dirty thoughts I had about him were never going to come to fruition once I managed to send him back to whatever hospital he had escaped from.

  “Since then, I, along with my team of specialist Guards, have been tracking your every movement in this realm since you were left here, right up until today. I was sent here to collect you, and might I add that you haven’t made it the easiest task.” He tutted as though we had annoyed him, despite not once asking him to come after us and take us to his make-believe land.

  Jason pulled a backpack out of thin air, placing it on his lap as he continued his tale of absolute nonsensical rubbish.

  “You are not human; you are Fae, a part of an extensive collection of creatures and species that are made entirely of magic. There are too many class types for me to name now, and I assume you don’t know what class you are either.” He spoke.

  It took far too much effort not to burst out laughing, even biting my tongue barely helped.

  “You are to return with me to the country of Mirane in the other realm, and join Superno Academy, where you will spend the next four years learning everything there is to know about magic and hopefully not allowing your human existence to completely ruin any potential skill you may have inside you.”

  Jason finished his grand speech with a flourish of his hands, no doubt expecting more than what he got from us. Kaida snorted loudly, switching her resting bitch face onto full throttle as she spoke to me.

  “Quest’uomo è pazzo.” This man is insane.

  I laughed in Jason’s direction, no idea how we had ended up with such bad luck to have this psycho in our living room, on a random day like today.

  “Right, you expect us to believe magic is real. What did you call us? Fae? Is that not a fairy… Nice try stronzo; I don’t think I have wings.” I jumped out my chair, ready to throw him out the door if that’s what it took, when Laina placed her hand on my arm, silently asking me to stay put.

  Jason was lucky I would never lay a hand on my siblings and stilled on the spot.

  “Excuse me Sir, but I'm afraid we are going to require proof of what you’re saying before we do anything rash. Fae are things of storybooks here, so I’m sure you can understand why were apprehensive.” Laina said nicely, much to Jason’s chagrin.

  He sighed and took a file out his bag, throwing it on the wooden coffee table in front of us.

  “That is your file, Miss Darklight. I couldn’t quite fit your sisters in my bag.” He joked to Laina, looking pointedly at me as he did.

  “That’s not our surname.” Kaida said, narrowing her eyes and snatching the file up at once, hungrily devouring all the information inside.

  Jason ignored her for a second before answering, his face set stern like he was bored with the conversation now.

  “It is in the other realm, so you might as well get used to people calling it you. Your name is famous in Mirane, hell it’s known in every corner of my world even if your faces were a mystery to us all.” Famous? Yeah right.

  Kaida wordlessly passed the file along to me, horror creeping into my chest as I saw it.

  A picture of Laina was on the cover, labelled as Princess Gwendolyn Darklight. The name may have been a lie, but the picture was true; it was from three years ago at a school we used to attend.

  “Where did you get that picture?” I spat, “and who the fuck is Gwendolyn?”

  “It was her birth name, the one your mother gave. Same with the title; you three are lucky enough to be the daughters of Carissa Darklight, aka the Lion Queen of Mirane.” Jason was crazy or high there was no doubt about that.

  Our parents had left us on an orphanage doorstep when we were five; they were horrible people, not royalty from some made up land. I would never consider the idea that they had been anything more than gutter rats. Or else what kind of people would they have been, to abandon three five-year-old girls, who had no memories of their lives, and no belongings to speak of except the clothes on their backs.

  My lips pursed as my brain tried so hard to figure out how to get Jason to leave our home as quickly as possible. I could feel the tension rolling off Kaida and had no intentions of letting her burst. It was never a pretty sight when she allowed her demons out their cage and I didn’t want to clean up a dead body I hadn’t created.

  “Calmati sorella.” I muttered, calm down sister, “Listen Jason, I don’t believe a word you are saying. We’re not the daughters of some queen and we sure as hell aren’t fae. Now get out my chair before I call the cops!”

  Despite his clear intention of remaining neutral Jason laughed, before he rolled his eyes and checked the large watch around his wrist. He probably knows my cop claim is bullshit; I’d never call them.

  “Whilst I love the Friday the thirteenth reference, my name is Ryder, and I honestly don’t care if you believe me because deep down you know I'm right.” He paused for a second and stared at Laina with a smirk. “How else would you explain her if not for the fae blood in her body?”

  I had no answer to that.

  I exchanged a glance with Kaida, and she nodded once, agreeing with me. Laina was weird and she did have that little wannabe psychic thing going on. But did that really mean she was magic? And if so, what did that mean for me and Kaida? The little I knew of fairy tales, fae were magic creatures, a lot of them with wings, and they were either pure evil or good depending on what book you read.

  Jason, sorry Ryder got to his feet and clapped his hands, the three of us rising with him as soon as he told us too in that weird tone he had. I didn’t like being bossed around but I didn’t seem to be able to do a damn thing about it. Not yet anyway.

  “Pack up your things please; we’re going to be late.”

  Laina turned to us as she rose to her feet.

  “I trust him; he’s telling the truth.” And with that declaration she left the room with an excited giggle, the sounds of clothes packing hitting my ears seconds later. It was just like her to trust people, and do as she was told; she was far too subservient for my liking.

  Kaida refused to move an inch and I didn’t blame her, we had a lot more sense in our heads.

  “I'm not packing anything until you show me some pro
of of this magic shit, because quite frankly I think you’ve been hitting the blow a bit too hard and I'm not about to entertain it.” Kaida spoke sternly, her death glare trying so hard to frighten the world.

  Ryder took no mind of her as moved a step backwards to the empty floor space in the room. He cracked his fingers out and sighed.

  “This is the only time I shall be doing this.” He said, as his entire body became a blur of light and he disappeared.

  A second later he returned holding my jacket, which I knew I had placed in the bedroom, in his hands. He did the trick two more times, each one returning with something new of mine that I knew had been hidden in the furthest part of our home.

  Whoever this Ryder man was, he was clearly magically fast. Humans didn’t move like that. Before I could compose myself, he stood still, letting a dark cloud of anger cover his pretty features, until there was nothing left but pure evil on his face. If I had the ability to fear other people I would have been absolutely terrified of Ryder.

  “I'm a Vampire.” He said casually, a pair of wickedly sharp fangs appearing as he did.

  “A Vampire.” I replied with a laugh. “That’s fucking insane.”

  He tutted at my language once more, clearly not a fan of my sailor mouth as he called it and began pacing the room.