The Shadow Student (Wraithwood Academy #1)

by Teresa Hann

I wanted to see Wraithwood with my own eyes, everything I’d only ever read about. For so many years, trapped in the gilded cage of Redbriar Manor, I’d longed to escape to its ancient halls and night-blooming gardens, libraries and bell towers. I wanted to see. But I couldn’t. Because I was lying bound and gagged in the enchanted trunk in the back seat, stacked under the suitcases.

Then Priam Redbriar came in and ruined her life again. In a way, it was my fault, because he’d found me just in time to witness magic that impressed even him. In my second grade classroom, the sunlight kept getting into my eyes where I sat during the afternoon, and the teacher wouldn’t let me switch seats. So I’d subconsciously rotated the entire school about twenty degrees on its foundation so the sun would stop bothering me.

They said many things about Priam Redbriar at his funeral, as my mother and I watched from a distant window, forbidden to mingle with the guests and dignitaries. He was brilliant, and talented, and ambitious, and charismatic. For twenty years, he’d held the fate of mage society in his hands. But no one ever claimed he was kind

The black-haired, silver-eyed Nightfelds were the only mage family that could rival the Redbriars for might and influence.

Aegis was a Spellbreaker; the tattoos made him immune to magic other than his own, and capable of actively absorbing magic from other mages. Naturally, mages didn’t hand over the keys to their weakness to just anybody; Aegis had been specially honored with the procedure due to his family’s history of service and his personal loyalty.

My name was Cassandra Turner. Not Redbriar. I was a Turner, like my mother, my only true family. And like her, I would survive whatever these selfish, self-important mages threw at me. I was going to get through this, find a way to free her, and escape, whatever it took.

I didn’t trust the Nightfeld brothers. They were smug, rich bullies, no better, and probably worse, than the scions of any other powerful mage family. But they had every reason to hate the Redbriars, and they practically ruled the school. The enemies of my enemy might turn out to be my friends. Or they might just steamroll me without a second thought.

What a world I lived in. The bodyguard who’d once been my childhood friend had put me in chains. And I wanted the biggest bullies of Wra...

“You! Aegis, what’s she doing out of the chains?” I raised my bloody wrists. “Look, I’m a person, not a wall charger. You can’t just keep me in a box all day until you need me. I have needs, such as not bleeding and going to the bathroom!” “She’ll be shackled when we leave,” Aegis reassured her. “Fuck you! I turn my back for one second and you do this!”

I had to admit, Cly didn’t usually go for the yelling-and-screaming tantrums over the teary poor-me tantrums. School must have rattled her badly. Not that I had much sympathy for her. She had more of a choice about being here than I did.

I moved to get dressed, and discovered yet another minor indignity. Of course they hadn’t thought to bring clothing for me. I was a wall charger. Wall chargers didn’t need to change.

I hated the situation I found myself in—I was technically at Wraithwood, but not a part of it. I was a glorified wall charger trapped inside a dorm room, watching everything from afar.

Mom had tried to explain to me. Aegis was so blindly devoted because the Redbriars had spared no effort in manipulating him, ever since he was a child, to turn him into the perfect bodyguard for their use. I should try to understand them, she always told me, and then I wouldn’t be so angry at them. But Mom wasn’t here, because while Mom extended her generosity, the Redbriars never, ever returned the favor.

So I looked at Cly, screaming and flailing up there at Acubens's mercy, and felt mostly concerned about Acubens. This was admittedly satisfying, in a way, but you’d have to be an immature asshole to stand up there and do something like that at the age of eighteen, and immature assholes weren’t good teammate material.

“Things will be interesting this year,” said a voice like smoke and silk.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “And who are you?” “Who are you?” He smiled at me, and I had a sinking suspicion that he recognized me through my illusions. “You may call me Wraith.” “That totally doesn’t sound like a point-at-nearest-object fake name,” I said,

Behind me, Cly laughed, shrill with smugness and… relief? Relief that Aegis had saved her from either having to stop him, which she was too much of a self-interested coward to do, or agreeing with him, which would put the weight of the consequences on her conscience. Mom was wrong. Understanding Cly didn’t lessen the disgust that welled up in me one bit.

Cly was a lazy, selfish, bullying coward who cared only about her own pleasure and pain. She claimed the power and luxury that the Redbriar name brought, but wanted none of the responsibility and consequences. She craved for others to fear her, but screamed for Aegis to protect her the moment the tables turned. She was nasty in ways that no decent, responsible person would be. But that also meant she was stupid in ways that no decent, responsible person would be. And I was going to exploit that to take my first step toward freedom.

The more physical techniques are heavily dependent on the mage’s raw power, but using them efficiently and precisely still requires training.

Aegis kept pace with me as I strode rapidly toward my next classroom. “You shouldn’t have done that. It’s unseemly for a Redbriar to apologize.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s more unseemly for a Redbriar to bully a nerd and get publicly knocked on her ass for it. I could’ve doubled down, or I could’ve done damage control, and won House Redbriar the friendship of an incredibly talented mage. He’s ludicrously good with magic circle design. Did you see the three-point clauses he was incorporating?”

Meeting Darshan properly had made me even angrier at Cly. I liked him, damn it. He had ideas, and passion, and graceful long-fingered hands that drew beautiful things. Talking to him had felt like a ray of light after a long imprisonment in the darkness. It pissed me off that Cly had taken one look at him and seen a loner, a nerd without a fancy last name to back him up, and decided he was easy prey. It pissed me off that I had to meet him wearing Cly’s face.

Disappointment flashed Acubens's eyes; he’d clearly been hoping to make me jump. But he covered it up with an exaggerated bow. “Fancy meeting you here, Redbriar.” I crossed my arms. “I didn’t expect you were a freshman too. I’d have thought upperclassman, given the way you act like you own this place, or preschooler, given your sense of humor.”

“Oh, I’ve been here a full four years, just like Arcturus. I stayed with him as his bodyguard until I was old enough to actually attend.

For a moment, even Acubens's eyes widened. But that moment passed. He grabbed me and threw me back against the wall. Acubens leaned in, pinning me in place; distantly, I heard Professor Sarva begin the count to ten. His face was right up against mine, his handsome features drawn into a vicious smirk. “Well, that was easy.” His body was hot and hard against mine, his grip bruising. “For a moment I thought you were more than you’d let on. Guess not. You’re just trash, Cly Redbriar.”

I flexed my wrist, breaking his grasp. Before he could react, I put my hand under his chin and forced it up toward me. Acubens's eyes widened. He tried to jerk away, but I pushed all my remaining magic into my iron grip. “Oh, you have no idea, Acubens Nightfeld,” I rasped, staring him straight in the eye. “You have no idea what level of game I’m playing.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Acubens, still staring at me as we left. Let him remember our encounter. Let him wonder if he’d truly won, or if he’d lost without even understanding how. Let questions and frustration haunt him.

shut my eyes, willing myself to focus through the pain. I was going to win my freedom and save Mom, no matter what it cost in blood.

“You’re up to something,” said Acubens, sounding offended. “And I’m going to crack you open like a crab and dig the secrets out of your innards.” That was even more messed-up than his usual taunting.

“Count of ten reached,” said Professor Sarva. The walls around us flickered off, and I immediately scrambled away, heart pounding. “Victory to Acubens Nightfeld.” It clearly didn’t feel like a victory to Acubens. If anything, he looked even more pissed. The shadows still surrounded him like a billowing cloak, and they rippled and seethed in agitation. He snapped out one final word. The shadows roared toward me like a crashing tide.

I braced myself, pulling up every bit of magic I had left into a shield, even as I knew it wouldn’t be enough. Instinctively, I shut my eyes. But nothing hit me. I opened my eyes, and stared. In front of me stood Arcturus Nightfeld, backlit by a magical shield of blinding light, against which the shadows hissed and crumpled to nothing.

“Clytemnestra Redbriar,” said Arcturus. “It seems like I underestimated you the last time we met. It seems like that was your intention.”

have no idea what you mean,” I said, with a blandness that I knew was more suspicious than not saying anything.

“You harass a student, then befriend him. You play the weakling, but find ways to win even as you lose. I don’t know what you’re plotting, but I know for certain that you’re more than you pretend to be.”

On the one hand, I completely shared Arcturus's opinion of the Redbriars. I’d love it if he could smite them into oblivion for me, which he clearly wanted to do. On the other, he just might smite me alongside them as collateral damage. That had definitely been a threat.

Darshan sighed at my obvious distraction. “I know, I know, this is all for some Great House scheme of yours, and it’s not the place of a no-name to hear about any of it or offer his opinion. Just… from one nerd to another, I really hope you know what you’re doing. Worrying about your ass is taking important time away from worrying about my own ass.” I blinked. Was Darshan worried for me? I wasn’t used to that coming from anyone besides my mom, and I had no idea how to respond.

If you put together Acubens and Arcturus, you’d maybe get one sane normal person. But taken separately, they were a creep with an obsession with my fake identity, and an asshole with a grudge against my fake identity. There were so many ways this could go wrong.

“Clytemnestra Redbriar,” he said, his voice cold with fury. “I see you taking sexual advantage of my incapacitated brother. I challenge you to a duel.” What. The hell.

I was completely fucking over them. What had I ever done to the Nightfelds? At most, I’d made fun of them, screwed with their expectations, all for the chance of making my case to them and winning them over as allies. I’d hid my true identity only because I had to. Meanwhile, Acubens had beaten me up on a regular basis, while Arcturus jumped to defend that psycho against me in a situation he knew nothing about. Did I want either of them as my allies? Was it even worthwhile to run at their heels begging for a scrap of opportunity?

I was done playing nice for the sake of a futile hope. I stood, leaving Acubens flopping limp on the bench, and spat blood at Arcturus’s feet. “I accept.” Arcturus nodded briskly. “As the challenged party, you may choose the date, time, location, and format of the duel. Inform me of your decision by tomorrow.” And abruptly, the fury was back in his voice. “I assure you that I will make you pay.”

Incredibly, the party had gone even worse than I’d thought possible. Arcturus. The most powerful mage alive. Riding high on his righteous rage at everything Redbriar.

“So you gambled your well-being just to make Cly feel better. Christ, that’s worse.” “It was for the good of the House,” Aegis insisted. “We couldn’t afford to look like we were running away after two days. We’d have lost whatever respect we still had from other mages.” I stood, frustrated. “Always for the good of the House. You know, you didn’t use to be a lying schemer. You’re still not very good at being one. But you’ve insisted on learning.”

Arcturus would lose face if he retracted his challenge after delivering it in front of members of half the Great Houses. So why would he, when he was the most powerful mage alive, confident of winning the duel? His victory would avenge the humiliation of his father twenty years ago, and serve as the ultimate sign of the ascension of House Nightfeld above House Redbriar. The Nightfeld brothers were bullies. Handsome bullies, and ones I shared a mutual enemy with, but bullies nonetheless.

“The thing is, no one can beat Arcturus Nightfeld in a straight-up fight. Aegis can’t. I can’t,” I admitted, remembering the way his fingers had dug into my flesh. “Our only chance is to change what’s considered possible in dueling.” Darshan’s brown eyes widened. “You mean—” “I need to find a way to use magic circles in a duel.”

There was something about working on a big, exciting, and slightly scary project together that created a sense of connection. In this moment, we were no longer a vassal, a no-name, and a bastard pretending to be a Redbriar. We were partners in crime.

“I hate him for what he did to my mother, but I owe him my magic, which is to say, my life. Without my magic, I wouldn’t be me. Maybe it would’ve been better for everyone involved, but someone else would be living that better life in my place.” “So this is what I’m going to do,” I said, finally. “This is going to be my attempt at justice. I’m going to take Priam Redbriar’s magic and defend my mom with it.”

“I will witness you,” he said, his strange eyes bright. The clock was ticking toward noon. “Then let’s go,” I said.

“I think I have whiplash right now,” I muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose. “But, actually? Yes.” Partly because he might not be completely irredeemable. Partly because he was absurdly good-looking. And partly to see the expression on Arcturus’s face.

“Aegis drugged me,” I rasped. “He told me everything,” Cly sneered. “You were getting uppity out there, weren’t you? You spent so long pretending to be someone who matters that you forgot your place. He warned me about you. He told me you might turn and bite your masters like the rabid mongrel bitch you are.” Aegis stared at the ground. After so many betrayals from him, I’d thought that I’d grow numb to them, that one more couldn’t hurt so much. I was wrong. It hurt anyway. My heart had its own muscle memory, and nothing could teach it that my childhood friend was now my most faithful enemy.

“This school is all me. The brick is not brick, but my red flesh. The stone is not stone, but my white bone. So it’s only natural that I can pass through these halls quite freely. It’s my own body to command.” “You called yourself Wraith Woods,” I said. “Shit. I thought you were giving an obviously fake name, but it’s the exact opposite. You’re literally Wraithwood Academy.” “Yes,” he said. “Especially in this incarnation. As I said, the mages killed me. It’s just very hard for one of my kind to be killed completely.

“I want to meet with them,” I said. “Arcturus. Acubens. And… Darshan, if he’s willing. Tell him about the danger involved, but I owe him the truth, if he’ll listen. Can you do that?” Wraith stirred and smiled. “Allow me to strengthen myself first,” he said, his eyes gleaming. “Tell me a secret.” “Here’s one that you helped me remember,” I said, my hand closing into a fist. “My name is Cass Turner, and I’m not giving up without a fight.”