Chapter 1 – Wave
Clearly,theuniversewasplaying a joke on her.The sun was shining, birds were singing, and there was a pleasant breeze in the air.Nothing, absolutely nothing, indicated that Tracthesian Academy was anything else but a high-end, ridiculously expensive university.
No shadows lurked where they shouldn’t.The grass was evenly cut, the hedges were immaculately trimmed, and the stone buildings gleamed like they were washed and polished daily.No sign of bird crap anywhere despite the insistent chirping she kept hearing.
Neutral ground, at least in theory.A place that accepted all the realms, species, and factions equally.Exempt from all territory claims, wars, and the treaties that eventually followed.
Wave Stormwell stared up the stairs and frowned at the dragon statues guarding the entrance.Would they burn the flesh from her bones and deny her entry?Were they spelled against any ill intent?She had gotten past the main gates unsinged when the taxi dropped her here.Maybe that was a sign.
A car door slammed shut behind her and shook her from her stupor.Wave hefted up her bags, all two of them, and started up the stairs.Her whole life could fit into a backpack and a small suitcase.Wasn’t she lucky?
“Move,” someone snapped behind her and Wave quickly stepped aside.
“Sorry,” she mumbled under her breath, keeping her temper in check.She didn’t need to borrow trouble before she even got in.
“Don’t be a jerk, Jarred,” another voice called out, but the owner of the first just grunted and pushed past her.His arm brushed against hers, and Wave had to stifle a moan.
Shit.Not now.Or ever.
She was here to learn all she could about her father’s death, and because she couldn’t let the lies stay buried.She was here to hone her powers, to learn control and balance.She wasnothere to get into trouble because her siren was starved for touch before she even got past the front door.
Wave focused on her shields.The innermost was the most important, and firmly in place, containing her siren powers and protecting her mind.Mother had trained and drilled the importance of that into her since her first breath.
Her second shield was also always up, and it compressed her aura and stormbringer side.As a side effect, those shields protected her from most external threats tosomedegree, but clearly they weren’t hard enough if only a brush of a hand sent her into a dizzy spiral.
Gritting her teeth, Wave forced a third shield up.This one was purely for protection.Usually, she needed to protect others from herself and hide what she was, but apparently, Tracthesian was a different playing ground, and she needed a better arsenal to survive.
She was so focused on her efforts to control her siren side and shields that she completely missed the male at the top of the stairs.That was, until he wrapped his arms around her before she could walk face-first into a polished stone column.
“Whoa, careful there,” he said, and Wave could hear the laughter in his voice.
Slowly, after making sure her shields would hold no matter what she laid eyes on, she looked up.And up.The man holding her was a golden god.Or maybe a demi-god.There had to be something divine in his blood.Good thing she had added that third layer to her shields.
“Hellion, stop flirting with the new girl and let’s go!”the voice that had told her to move snapped again.
Blinking, Wave tore her gaze fromHellion’sbright blue eyes and met an annoyed pair of deep brown ones glaring at her.For a jerk, the man looked way too delicious, and Wave had an urge to run her fingers under his tight-fitting t-shirt to test if the ridges she could see below it were real.
“Sorry,” she mumbled again, and tried to move away from the temptation.
“Not so fast, little bird,” Hellion said, and stopped her from stumbling into the same column again.“It is easier if you go around the columns, not through them,” he leaned in to whisper into her ear.Then he moved Wave smoothly so that she had a clear path toward the entrance.
“Thanks,” she managed to say.
“Hellion!”Jarred hollered halfway down the hall.He most certainly didn’t have anything divine in his bloodline.Wave sighed slightly when Hellion turned to follow Jarred and another man that she hadn’t noticed was with them.
She scolded herself not to look, but how could she not?Even if Jarred exhibited some serious jerk genes, he had dark hair, he was tall, his skin was tanned from the sun, he was fit—very fit—and overall just annoyingly handsome.A cliché, really.She probably looked like a pale ghost next to him.
And his companion was equally tall and handsome, from what she could see, but crowned with black, short hair, a perfect complement to Hellion’s blond ponytail.For just a moment, Wave let herself imagine how Hellion’s hair would feel in her hands.
“You going to stand there the whole day?”A woman with shining brown hair and light brown skin asked with a smirk while she walked over.“Not that I blame you.Three of the Powerhouses at one glance are a sight.Although I feel it is my duty to warn you that there are twelve of them.”
“Twelve?”Wave choked out.
“Yep.”The woman sighed.“Those three are Hellion, Hazard, and Jarred.And I’m Angie, by the way.”
“Wayla,” Wave replied, thankful that she remembered to use her fake name.“Hazard is the one with short, dark hair?What do you mean byPowerhouses?”Wave couldn’t help but ask.
“Oh, right, you’re new.Yes, that’s Hazard, and Powerhouses are a group of very powerful males who all live in a house.I know, whoever came up with the name wasn’t very original.The point is, they’re a mix of heirs or future heirs, or are just ridiculously powerful in their own right.”
