~YULIA.
I did not even feel any iota of remorse as I watched Andrea lose her shit.
I was a bit caught off guard by how fast her hand almost came to hitting me. Why were the Craven sisters so fast with violence?
“She almost killed me first, it was self-defence,” I said to Andrea but I doubted if she was even listening.
“So, you burnt her face in self-defence too? Is that what you are trying to tell me?” She asked in a rage-filled voice.
“It was an accident, Andrea and if you want to blame someone, try the professor who started the class in the first place,” Issa said in a calm tone.
“Of course, you will come to her defence, what else did I expect?” Andrea said in a sarcastic tone.
“Is she okay?” I asked, referring to Leia.
“Why the fuck do you care?” Andrea spat.
“This was a bad idea,” Issa muttered under his breath.
“Andrea, I know that you do not believe me but I am only here to check on her and see how she is doing,” I said, trying to break the ice.
“That is not going to be necessary,” Andrea said coldly.
“Then we’re done here,” Issa said and took me by the hand.
We turned to leave.
“Really, Issa?” Andrea said in disbelief. “You are just going to leave?”
“I have no business being here, I only came here because she was the one worried about Leia,” Issa firmly replied and continued towards the exit with me.
On the way out, we bumped into Dean Davina, who had the look of someone who had the weight of the world on her shoulder. I guessed that the board of directors of the academy were on her neck over some issues.
“Ms. Moonshadow, just the student I was looking for,” She said.
“Whatever your board has decided, she is not getting expelled nor is she suspended,” Issa spoke before she could continue.
“While I am touched that you actually care for someone other than yourself, Ms. Yulia’s stay at the academy is not being threatened. The board just wants to see her.”
I was curious as to why the unknown puppet masters of the academy were all of a sudden interested in me. I had a vague feeling that it had something to do with my glowing hands. I knew that news travelled fast in this school.
“Why?” I asked.
“Let me just say that there is a vested interest in your… ability,” Dean Davina said.
“As her legal guardian, I will decide if I am alright with my niece being poked at by your pencil pushers,” Issa stated with mockery in his tone.
“Your blatant disrespect for the board has not gone unnoticed, Issa, we know about the issue with Pete and his father,” Davina said, looking at Issa with pure contempt.
“I care about my niece,” Issa said.
“Enough to force a father to hurt his own son?” Davina asked coldly.
“Wait, how do you know about that?” I asked in disbelief. “Are you stalking us?”
“It should not surprise you, Yulia,” Issa said. “The Academy has spies everywhere, including my territory, they love to watch from the shadows,”
“Baseless accusations will not be tolerated on school grounds, Lycan Frostwood,” Davina said in a threatening tone.
“I am not your student, Davina. Your rules do not apply to me,” Issa said.
“But they apply to her, Issa,” Davina said as she glared at me. “Decide when your niece should see the school board, we must determine if she is dangerous or not, and her failure to comply will jeopardize her education here.”
“I am not dangerous,” I said.
“That is left to be determined, after all, a girl is unconscious because of you with partial burns on her face. Another has two broken arms. Good day.” She replied with a condescending tone and left us. I assumed that she was going to see Leia.
We silently walked to the car. “She is right, you know,” I said to Issa.
“About what? You being dangerous? What she said makes no sense, Yulia.” Issa replied as he opened the door for me.
I entered and I waited for him to get into the car before I spoke.
“What do you mean by that?”
“We are werewolves, creatures of the night and shadows,” Issa said and started the car. “In that school, there are witches and other creatures, we are all dangerous. Davina is only concerned about control.”
I looked at him with a questioning gaze. He slowly backed the car out of the parking spot and turned to zoom out of the school grounds.
“The Dean wants to control me?” I asked. “Why?”
“It’s what she does,” He replied as he drove. “First, they analyse your powers to see if you can be useful to their cause, then they recruit you and promise you a seat at the table if you play nice and follow their orders, they give you a job in the academy and use you for their selfish agendas.”
“How do you know all these?” I asked him in awe.
“I faced the board when I was your age, they tried to recruit me because of my Lycan blood, I declined and ever since then, I have been their enemy. But they do not refuse my annual contribution of money for their academic endeavours though. Assholes.” He revealed.
“Canis Academy is not just a school, is it?” I asked after I had thought about what he said.
“It is more than just a school, Yulia, it holds and hides a lot of ancient secrets…deadly secrets.”
“So, the whole reason Davina wants me to show up is so her…friends want to see if I can be useful to them?” I asked in disbelief.
“Remember what I said about the storm coming, that school is a big part of it,” Issa told me.
“Why did you enrol me here then?” I asked.
“Because that’s where you found the scroll only you could read, even though you could not understand the language. That scroll was written in the language so ancient nobody can translate it till this day,” Issa said.
“The answers that I need are in that school,” I said with a sudden realization.