The Stranger Trilogy Box Set Page 3

  “Yeah, but he takes different classes than I do and doesn’t really hang out in the common room,” she explained.

  “I still can’t believe he’s an Aries,” Jane murmured more to herself than to Elle.

  “Well, his birthday is April 20, so he’s technically on the cusp.” Elle shrugged her shoulders.

  “Okay, I know this is a dumb question, but I have to ask.” Jane took a breath before she went on. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah …” Elle let her voice trail off, lying back on the bed and resting her hands flat on her stomach. “I thought I was over him, you know? I mean, I should be. It’s been five months. But then I saw him, and just for I moment, I forgot that I was.”

  “Maybe you’re not supposed to be over him,” Jane said. Elle snapped her eyes from the ceiling back to her friend despite the fact that she was now looking at Jane upside down. “I don’t mean that you’re going to get back together or anything. He was your first love, Elle. I don’t think you ever get over a first love. Once you come to terms with that, that’s when you’ll truly be able to move on.”

  “You know,” Elle began, the right corner of her mouth twitching up, “for someone who’s never been in love before, you sure know a lot about it.”

  “Of course I’ve been in love,” Jane said, giving Elle a knowing look. “Teemu Selanne. Hello.” She grinned at the mention of the Finnish hockey player. “I also know how to make you feel better too.”

  “Oh?” Elle pushed up her brow. “And how’s that?”

  “Let’s sneak out tonight and go to Ultra,” Jane said. “We haven’t been since last term, and I hear Liv’s brother is bartending. Apparently he’s way cute and has the English accent Liv has. Plus, I think we both need to dance tonight.”

  Elle’s grin turned into a full-fledged smile. “I think you’re right,” she agreed.

  After making plans with Elle to go to Ultra tonight, Jane knew she would definitely need the extra hours of sleep. She interlocked her fingers and pushed them out, stretching before setting her laptop on her nightstand and standing in order to do the same with her body.

  “I think I’m going to grab a snack considering I missed lunch,” she told Elle, currently on her own bed writing something. More lyrics, no doubt. “Do you want me to get you anything?”

  Elle didn’t look up when she said, “Raisins. I forgot to grab something because I ran into Matt.” When Jane reached the door to their room, Elle called, “You know, while you’re in the Ack Building, you might as well go talk to Ethan if he’s available.” Her lips curled into a smirk. “What? You didn’t think I’d forget, did you?”

  “Of course not,” Jane retorted, not bothering to hide the dryness in her tone.

  She closed the door behind her and exited her residence hall. Since she was a Year Six, she didn’t have to deal with stairs anymore. It would take her a few moments to cross the grass and paved driveway before she reached the academy building. Ignis students were the only students who really used the main entrance to get to their classes due to the fact that their dorm was to the south, directly across from it. Just west of the dorm, several feet from the cliff the academy was built on was the astronomy tower, used only by upperclassmen. While the position of the Ignis Dorm provided a beautiful view of the island itself, she was much more drawn to the ocean, the endless horizon Aqua was afforded. Even now, she couldn’t help but glance in its direction, watching the waves for a short moment before heading to the building. She flashed her identification to the two guards—both of them shifters—but Horace and Bob were quite familiar with her. This was afforded given the fact that despite the numerous times she entered the building this way, she never ceased to remember that the top step was a little higher than the previous two, causing her to trip and fall forward. Today was no different.

  It was Bob’s turn to help her up and Jane thanked him through her laughter at her own clumsiness. “I swear I’ll learn,” she claimed, tucking the student id back into the hemline of her pants since she had no pockets or purse with her.

  “I’m sure you will,” Horace said with a nod.

  Instead of heading straight back to the Dining Hall, she headed to the left, to the West Staircase, and climbed it until she reached the second floor. From there, she made a right and continued walking down the hall, only stopping once she was in front of the familiar, dark oak door, the last one on the right.

  Might as well get this discussion over with, she thought to herself.

  Jane frowned when she saw that it was closed. Ethan always welcomed students to his office no matter the day or time. In fact, he insisted everyone call him by his first name. He even had a hidden passageway that led to his bedroom on the third floor so he could rush to his students should they call on him afterhours by pressing a button on his desk that alerted him of such an occurrence. She never had to use it. Yet. But she knew the students who had and they had nothing but great things to say about him.

  So why was his door closed? A meeting with professors, perhaps?

  Furrowing her brow, Jane decided the best thing to do was knock.

  “Enter,” the voice on the other side of the door instructed.

  Enter?

  As Jane grabbed the doorknob and turned, she tried to figure out who was in there because it most certainly wasn’t Ethan. It almost sounded like—

  “Oh.”

  It was.

  Professor Depogare.

  His head was bent over a pile of papers on the desk, a red pen in his right hand. He must be grading papers, which meant he had gave his underclassmen trainees an assignment on the first day of school. How completely like him.

  “Oh?” he questioned, sounding almost offended by her slip of tongue. He pressed his brow together as he regarded Jane with his midnight blue eyes. She knew that, technically, there was no possible way eyes could be that dark, but Depogare was the exception to that rule. Granted, she had never been close enough to him to confirm her hypothesis, but every time she looked at him during training, all she could see was midnight. She couldn’t even distinguish his pupils from his irises.

  Suddenly, he tilted his head and asked in his heavy Southern accent, “What happened to your face?”

  Oh shit.

  She must already have a lump forming on her forehead thanks to her textbook, which wasn’t what she wanted given that she was going to go to a club tonight.

  “Oh, nothing, really,” she said through nervous laughter. Hopefully it didn’t sound as fake to him as it did to her. “Just ran into something again. No big deal. Happens all the time.”

  He didn’t seem to be amused by this in the slightest, and judging by the look on his face, he didn’t believe her. Jane knew she was bad at lying but certainly he knew how clumsy she was. She had tripped in his classroom more than a number of times and he had no qualms about commenting on it. He wouldn’t know how she really got the lump, right? There was no way.

  Jane tried but failed to suppress a shiver as it slid down her spine. She knew that given he had been her professor for the past five years, she should be used to the deep, rich velvet tone, but she couldn’t help it. He had the sexiest voice she had ever heard in her entire life. The fact that he was Southern was icing on the cake. His ancestors came from Russia too, so whenever he got frustrated, his Southern accent took on a Russian tone—which was weird but still just as sexy.

  “Miss Cabot, is there a reason you’ve interrupted my grading other than to gawk at me?” he asked with a sneer.

  It was just too bad that voice came out of … that. Not to say that Professor Depogare was unattractive. For the most part, Jane was one of the few to admit he might have been passable when it came to his looks if it hadn’t been for that jutting nose of his that looked as though it had been broken at least three times. He was tall, just over six feet, with broad shoulders and a fit body.—from what she could tell at least. The black and white suit—the same black and white suit he wore every day—hid whatever semblance
of a physique he had, but Jane was willing to bet that underneath all of that, there was an Adonis-type body. There had to be.

  Because, besides that distracting nose, he had a pretty nice face. It was sculpted and sharp, with high cheekbones, a straight nose, and a mouth, which if it wasn’t scowling and frowning all the time, might have been actually nice to kiss. Of course, his hair was a different story. It was constantly messy and hung in his face like copper-brown curtains draping in front of windows. It was longer than she preferred, crawling down the nape of his neck like vines, but somehow, it fit him. Jane knew that Depogare was born sometime in the thirteen hundreds and only looked like he was in his late twenties, but if he just cut his hair, he would easily pass for someone in their early twenties. As long as he didn’t open his mouth and reveal that he was, quite literally, an old soul.

  Wait a minute. Did she just think it’d be nice to kiss Depogare’s mouth?

  “Well?” he said, thankfully breaking her out of her disturbing thoughts.

  “Uh, sorry,” she said, hoping she wasn’t turning red, but knowing full-well that she was. “I was looking for Ethan.”

  “Dean Curtis,” he corrected sharply. “Yes, well, he and Professor Campbell are on a recruitment. As if Ignis could use another one.”

  Jane was certain the last flippant remark was more for him than for her. He was Aqua’s RH director after all, and any animosity he felt toward Ignis, and vice versa, was to be expected—even between professors. At least it explained why both Ethan and Will were gone. Normally when Ethan was gone, Will took over as dean. Since both were gone, Depogare was temporarily in charge. He must hate being second choice to Will. At this revelation, Jane felt herself smirk despite her attempt to stop it.

  “Is there something funny, Miss Cabot?” he drawled, raising one questioning brow.

  “No, sir,” she said. “Thanks, but I’ll just come back.”

  Without waiting for his response, Jane headed out the door and didn’t allow herself to breathe until she reached the first floor. She thanked God she was an animus and her thoughts could not be read by Professor Depogare. Although technically, blocking out other people’s thoughts was one of the first things a mental was taught and reading thoughts without a person’s permission was thoroughly forbidden. She didn’t know what would happen if he knew her thoughts, but she was certain his reaction would not have been pretty.

  Food.

  That was what she needed.

  Her lack of sustenance was the only reason she could think of that explained why such thoughts invaded her mind in the first place.

  3

  Twenty minutes turned into two hours thanks to the heavy fog currently hanging over Tahoe, thus preventing Ethan’s private jet from taking off. Luckily Ethan—currently talking to Jared in the cockpit because, apparently, along with his duties as a driver and a tutor, Jared was also a pilot—Will, and Sophie were tucked safely in the aircraft. Sophie already had her seatbelt buckled, excited at the prospect of flying for the first time. The furnishings in the jet were much more comfortable than Sophie anticipated. All she had heard about flying was how horrid airports were—especially security—and how uncomfortable the seats were. Then again, not many people travelled on a private jet. The only level of discomfort Sophie was currently feeling, however, was sitting directly adjacent to Will, who did not seem as keen on flying as she was.

  “So?” he asked her after another long moment of silence passed between them. “Do you have any questions?” He jerked his head downward, gesturing at the thick pages currently resting in her lap.

  Sophie glanced over at Will. His eyes were determined to avoid Sophie, probably because she was sitting next to a window.

  “You know we’re still on the ground, right?” she asked.

  “Of course I know that,” he snapped, throwing a steely glare in her direction.

  “Hey, I was just saying,” she said. “No need to get all snippy.” She dropped her eyes to the papers in her lap, rubbing her lips together as she did so. “Okay, so basically I have to choose two subjects to focus on for my degree, but because I’ve missed the first five years, I’m going to have to learn all four of the metaphysical sciences and the history of peculiars on top of you training me and Ethan experimenting with me.”

  “Yeah.” Will pushed his brow up, waiting for the question Sophie was going to ask.

  “Well, it just seems like a lot,” Sophie said.

  “It is.” Will reached out and grabbed the packet of paper from Sophie’s lap without asking and flipped through a couple of sheets before pulling one out. “This is the bell schedule. Notice that Wednesdays and Thursdays are block, which means classes are longer, but you only do three on one day, three on the other. Plus, you have office hours to catch up on homework or to talk to your professors about class. You also have specific blocks for studying. All this free time is where you’ll get caught up.”

  “How am I supposed to pick two major classes when I don’t really know the basics of any of them?” Sophie picked up her sapphire eyes in order to look at Will. “What if I fall behind while trying to catch up?”

  Will turned his head in order to lock eyes with her. For a moment, he said nothing. Simply stared. It wasn’t intense or intimidating, but Sophie still felt herself squirm underneath his gaze, as though he could somehow see directly to her very soul. “You’re smart, kid,” he told her.

  “You don’t even know me,” Sophie muttered, managing to break contact with him in order to look at her lap. She felt her cheeks redden from the compliment he paid her; she wasn’t sure if he meant it or was just saying it to shut her up.

  “Maybe not,” Will said, “but somehow you’ve managed to survive traveling up and down the coast of California at seventeen years old. You can’t do that without brains or money, preferably both. But judging by the clothes you’re wearing, I’d say it was just brains.”

  Sophie crossed her arms over her chest, her face flushing even more so than it had already. “I do odd jobs every now and then,” she said. “And isn’t it hypocritical to be judging my attire, Mr. Lumberjack?”

  “Lumberjack?” Will asked. “I was complimenting your brain, not insulting your clothes.”

  “Did you hear what you just said?”

  “And I’ll have you know,” Will continued, ignoring Sophie’s question, “these clothes are both durable and comfortable.”

  “Ah,” a voice said, interrupting the two. “I see your fiery personalities are already getting acquainted with one another.” Ethan slid into the chair across from Will, resting his hands on the small table that divided them. “I have some good news. We should be taking off shortly and arriving in Catalina,” he glanced down at what looked like a very expensive watch, “in an hour or so.” He turned his warm gaze on Sophie. “Do you have an idea of the two subjects you might be interested in studying?”

  Sophie inhaled, trying to ignore the man beside her. She barely even knew Will, and somehow he already managed to make a home underneath her skin. “Yes,” she said. “I think Astrology and Tarot would be cool to learn.”

  “Good choice,” Ethan said with a smile. “Professors Neal and Alexander are both incredibly proficient in their chosen fields. If you do not mind …” He reached out and grabbed the bell schedule from Will, flipping it over and setting it on the table. “If you’ll just give me a moment, I’ll write out your schedule, including the times when you’ll meet with me, Jared, and Will. Of course, I’ll get you your own official schedule once we reach the academy, but for now …” He handed Sophie back the sheet with three different schedules. One corresponded to Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, one to Wednesdays, and one to Thursdays. “Block schedule won’t go into effect until the week after next so the new students get used to being at the academy. The weekends are yours to do what you will: study, practice—if you join the soccer team or dance team—sleep, but a lot of students choose to go into town and explore the island. It really is a lovely place. I’m
sure you’re going to love it, Miss Harper.”

  Jared’s voice over the intercom interrupted Ethan, informing everyone to buckle their seatbelts because they’d be taking off soon. From the corner of her eyes, Sophie saw Will grip his armrests. She felt her own heart leap when the plane itself started to move. The corners of her lips quirked up. She was about to embark on another adventure.

  “I think, Miss Harper,” Ethan said with a smile, his soft blue eyes crinkling, “that you are going to do well at AckPec.”

  “AckPec?” Sophie tilted her head to the side as the plane started to pick up speed. She could have sworn she heard Will stifle a growl.

  “AckPec,” Ethan repeated. “The Academy for Peculiars.”

  By the time they landed at the incredibly small airport on Catalina Island, Sophie was actually looking forward to exploring the academy. After they got off the plane, Will seemed much more confident once his booted feet were securely back on solid ground and Jared led the group to a small lot nearby instead of into the airport. This surprised Sophie to the point where she kept looking back for the security guards she was certain were about to arrest them for just plain leaving.

  “Did you forget something?” Will asked, looking down at Sophie. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his motorcycle jacket.

  “Aren’t we supposed to go through the building before we leave?” she asked. “Isn’t that what people do?”

  Will’s smile was smug. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the Catalina airport is small,” he said. “It’s not used commercially anymore, except when supplies and mail from the mainland are delivered. The only reason Ethan uses it is because, well, he’s incredibly influential, if you know what I mean.” At Sophie’s questioning look, he heaved a sigh, tilted his head downward so his nose nearly brushed her ear, and whispered, “He’s rich. And not just rich, but rich-rich.”