“No—you have no idea. If you think you can just threaten me and bark orders at me, then expect me to roll over and obey, you’re in for a surprise, you royal asshole. I’m not sure how things work around here in Eden, but where I come from, you can’t just treat people like shit for no reason at all.”
“That’s because you come from the gutter,” he replies and I want to wipe that arrogant smirk off his face. The rage inside me builds to an almost frightening level.
But I force myself to calm. He’s goading me and for whatever reason, he wants me to lose it. But I won’t give him the satisfaction.
“Yeah? Well, I’m here now and I’m not going anywhere, so you might as well get used to it.” I’m impressed at the coldness in my own voice, although I have no idea why I’m even saying these words. I don’t have any other choice but to be here right now, but, it sure as hell doesn’t mean that I’ve permanently resigned myself to my fate. I don’t let any of that show, though, my face a perfect mask of stone.
“You can start by welcoming me to Eden,” I add sarcastically, mirroring his earlier arrogant smirk. Take that. Asshole.
My words seem to have the desired effect. His eyes blaze like twin flames. He thrusts his face close to mine, and I make to shove him away, but he grabs my hands to stop me. I don’t miss the way my skin burns under his touch, and it makes me even angrier.
“Just stay the hell out of my way, Jaz, or I swear to God, I’m gonna break you.” The words are less of a threat than they are a warning, a premonition. But they’re unnecessary, because I have no interest in going anywhere near this asshole.
He drops my hands, all but throwing them back at me and stalks off, leaving me to stare after him in utter shock.
I let out a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding. But the relief is short lived, as he stops in mid stride and turns back to look at me one more time.
“Oh and, Jaz?” he says, although not waiting for a response.
“Welcome to Eden.”
His eyes are as dark as the midnight blue sky above us, and what I see in them makes it clear that I’m far from welcome here.
6
“Hell. No.” I cross my arms over my chest as I glare at Magnus.
“You need to finish your senior year, Jazmine,” Magnus replies firmly. I’m starting to think that he has something to do with my own stubborn streak.
“And I’m all for that, but I’m not going to a boarding school.”
I don’t know what I surprises me more—the fact that they have boarding schools here in Eden, or the fact that Magnus is telling me that the educational system is practically identical and that my high school credits would count here. I can’t even begin to figure out how that works.
Magnus lets out an exasperated sigh. I kind of feel sorry for him—he’s clearly never had to deal with raising a teenage girl before. He’s going to have some hard lessons to learn. I automatically scold myself for the thought, because I’m not actually thinking about sticking around here, am I? Especially not after the welcome that I received last night from his royal prick highness.
“Like I said, the Dynasty heirs have always attended Regency Mount Academy. It is tradition. Your father went there, I went there and then my father before me and so on.
“It’s the most prestigious boarding school on the entire planet. You’ll get the best education there. They also have a first-rate art program, which is perfect for a talented artist like yourself.”
“I still don’t get it—so the subjects are just like a normal high school? No, I don’t know, spellcasting, potion making or levitation lessons?”
Magnus lets out a chuckle then.
“I think you watch too many films. There is no such thing as witches and warlocks, Jazmine.”
“Right. Of course. Because there are beings called the Seraph which exist in an alternative realm but it’s ridiculous of me to even consider that witches and warlocks exist.”
“And to answer your question, yes—the subjects are the same as what you’d expect to find in a normal high school on Earth. However, there are some differences. Most notably, elements class.”
“Elements class?” I ask, as I take a sip of my coffee. We’re having breakfast in one of the many palace gardens and I can’t get over how beautiful my surroundings are. The ornamental gardens, with the picture perfect rose bushes, the white and black marble terraces, even the fine china on the marble table and the butler serving us; it’s a scene right out of a fairy tale.
“Elements class is where students learn how to use their powers.”
That response makes me bolt upright in my chair.
“What? But I don’t have any powers—I told you this before.”
Magnus looks frustrated again.
“Yes, and I told you before that you do have them, you just don’t know how to use them yet. You’ll be behind at first, of course, but the teachers have been made aware and you’ll catch up in time, no doubt.”
I cover my face with my hands and groan, although I really feel like screaming.
That evening, I find myself in the back of a limousine being driven to what is going to be my new boarding school. Two things strike me as totally surreal in that sentence. The first is that I’m in an actual limousine—I don’t think I’ve ever even seen one in real life before, let alone been in one. Second, I’m going to be attending a boarding school.
All ten of the schools that I’d attended had been public. I can remember that there had been a prep school in the same town as foster home number eight, and the kids I’d seen around town who attended it were insufferable—rich brats who wore fancy clothes and drove around town in their even fancier cars. I have a feeling that this boarding school is going to be ten times worse.
But I don’t bother to argue anymore. Magnus made it clear around half an hour into the drive, that it isn’t going to make any difference. So, I sit in silence and stare out of the tinted window instead.
Despite my mood, even I can’t deny how scenic the route is. The limousine crosses one of the many bridges which connect Arcadia to the neighboring islands. I realize that we’re heading towards the small island with the cluster of majestic looking buildings atop a plateau that I had seen from a distance that first day on the beach.
The bridge seems to go on forever, the silhouette of the island in the distance, not seeming to get any closer. But finally, like a veil being lifted, I can see the moonlight illuminating the small island at the end of the bridge. There is a large forest on one side of the island and a wide, rocky beach on the other. The only road through the island is the one leading from the bridge, winding up over tall cliffs to the large plateau overlooking the beach and ocean beneath it. The island appears uninhibited, apart from the large, sprawling buildings on the plateau. From this angle, the tallest building seems to almost touch the moon.
The scene is like a picturesque postcard of a deserted island getaway. But of course, I know that it isn’t an island resort on top of that cliff, but a boarding school for the insanely wealthy.