Entranced (Guardian Academy 1)

“Yeah, but you still love me,” he replies with a grin.

I roll my eyes, not arguing, because he’s right. I’ll always love Jayse, and he’ll always be my best friend, even if I’m going to lose a hundred bucks because of him.

Chapter 3

An arrow springs forward from my bow and smacks the target with a thwack, slamming too far away from the bullseye. I stifle a yawn as I lower the bow to my side, frustrated over how exhausted I am.

I was right about the Guardians. By the time I finished answering their questions, it was nearing sunrise. I probably got a total of two hours of sleep before I had to wake up to go shooting with my grandpa Lucas.

“You seem tired,” Grandpa Lucas remarks with an I’m-so-gonna-win-this-competition smile. Like me, he’s competitive, so he isn’t going easy on me just because I’m his granddaughter. “Stay out too late?”

“Like you don’t already know the answer,” I say in a teasing tone. My archery skills may suck today, but that doesn’t mean I’ve lost the ability to joke around with my grandpa, who’s one of my favorite people in the world. “I know my mom and dad told you all about my little stunt last night. You may think you were talking quietly, but my teenage hearing is way better than your old people hearing.”

He shoots me a joking scowl. “Hey, I’m not that old.” He raises the bow with an arrow loaded, shoots it straight into the center of the target, and then grins at me because he just won the competition. “And I can still kick your teenage butt at archery.”

I set my bow down, leaning it against my leg while I tug off my mesh glove. “You only won because I’m tired.”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself to make you feel better about losing,” he says as he removes his gloves.

I give him my best sad, puppy dog eyes. “Are you really going to make me give you a hundred bucks? Because it’s pretty much all the money I have.”

He raises his brows at me. “Would you make me pay you if I lost?”

I shake my head. “No way. I’m too nice.”

“You sure about that?”

“No.”

“Then don’t you think it’s fair that you pay?”

“I guess so.” I collect my bow and gloves from off the ground and head back across the field toward the three-story, stone castle that belongs to the Keepers. While I don’t call the place home, I probably spend as much time here as I do at my house.

My grandpa Lucas quietly strolls along beside me as I hike through the tall grass, past the glistening lake, and up the steep hillside. When we almost reach the heavy, wooden door of the castle, he stops me before I walk in.

“How about this,” he says, “we meet up next weekend and do double or nothing? Just keep in mind that that’s two hundred bucks you’ll owe me if you lose.”

My mood perks up. “Really?”

He nods. “But just make sure you get enough sleep. No staying out and trying to pull crazy stunts.”

I nod then throw my arms around him. “Thank you, Grandpa. You’re the best.”

“Remember that when I’m kicking your butt next weekend,” he teases, patting me on the back.

I chuckle as I step back. “In your dreams, old man.”

We continue to trash talk each other as we wander inside the castle and down the hallway toward the library where my mom and dad are more than likely working on some sort of Keeper mission. Strangely, though, they aren’t there.

We search the entire house, but not a single Keeper is around.

“That’s weird,” I say as we start back downstairs. “Did they say they were going somewhere?”

He shakes his head, puzzlement etched deep in his face. “They were actually supposed to talk to me about something when we got back. Maybe they got called out on a job, though.”

I glance at the clock on the wall. “But it’s only noon.” Usually, Keeper missions go down when the sun sets because, for some reason, most creatures seem to be nocturnal.

“I know.” His confusion deepens as he descends the stairway.

I trail after him, scratching at the back of my neck. The damn thing has been so itchy today. I’m starting to get worried something stung me last night, and that’s why I felt the burning sensation at the club.

“Grandpa, is there a creature that can sting you and make your skin itchy?” I ask as we reach the bottom of the stairs.

“There’s a ton of creatures that sting, but most are fatal.” He pauses, giving me a worried look. “Why? Did something sting you?”

I press my palm to the back of my neck. “I’m not sure. I felt this burn on the back of my neck last night, and I thought it was … well, my mark appearing. But when I checked it out, my skin was just blotchy, and now it’s really itchy. A faerie wing hit me there, but I don’t think they sting, do they?”

He shakes his head, his brows knitting. “Let me see it.”

I turn around and move my ponytail out of the way.

He’s quiet for a moment before he mutters, “Oh, no.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Well … You did get your mark.”

“I did?” I fist pump the air then hurry for the mirror.

“Gemma, wait!” my grandpa calls out.

“I just want to see it.” I stop in front of a small, oval mirror on the wall at the end of the hallway. I sweep my hair out of the way with a smile on my face. But the smile fades when I see the mark tattooed on the back of my neck.

Instead of the Keepers’ ring of fiery gold flames, dark ink forms a compass with arrows pointing out of the edge, and strange, winding symbols fill the inside.

“This can’t be right … What the hell is this?” I already know the answer, though. I just don’t want to admit it.

He offers me a remorseful look. “I’m so sorry, Alana, but I think you just became a Guardian.”

Chapter 4

I shake my head at least a thousand times. “No, I can’t be. I’m supposed to be a Keeper. It’s in my blood. Everyone I know is a Keeper. There’s no Guardian blood on the Lucas’s side or the Avery’s. This has to be a mistake.”

“You know that’s not how things work.” He offers me a sympathetic look. “Sometimes blood has nothing to do with it. Sometimes, you’re just chosen at random.”

“That rarely happens.” So why did it happen to me? What?

?s so wrong with me that I didn’t get to follow in my family’s footsteps?

“But it does happen.” He pats my shoulder. “I’m sorry you’re disappointed, but it’s really not as bad as it seems. Like Keepers, Guardians have a purpose, too.”

I know I’m being overdramatic, but I feel like I’ve let my family down. For as long as I can remember, they’ve always talked about the day when I’d become a Keeper, my dad especially. He’s the one who gave me my first sword and taught me how to use it. And Jayse … We had such big plans for when we both became Keepers. We were going to fight side by side, protecting the world. Now that plan is ruined.

“I don’t even know anything about solving crimes.” I suck back the waterworks. Get your shit together, Alana. Stop having a pity party and find a way out of this. “I only know how to fight. What the hell am I supposed to do with all my mad fighting skills?”

“You can still use them. You won’t be completely out of this war. In fact, you might be farther in than before.”

Huh?

“Grandpa, what’re you talking about? What war?”

He gets a faraway look on his eyes, zoning off into one of his psychic trances. Normally, he only gets the look when he’s gazing into a crystal ball.

Something’s wrong.

“Grandpa, are you okay? You seem like you’re … I don’t know … seeing a vision.”

The dazedness diminishes as he forces a tense smile. “Forget what I said, okay? I’m just being a rambling, old man.”

I study him closely, noting his uneasiness. “You saw something … in a vision, didn’t you? I can tell.”

He tries to laugh it off. “You know I can’t see visions without my crystal.”

“Yeah, I know, but—”

“No, buts. I said to drop it, so please just drop it.” His clipped tone throws me off.

“Okay,” I reply quietly.

His irritation fades. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” He rubs his hand over his head. “I think I didn’t get enough sleep last night.”