Entranced (Guardian Academy 1)

She sighs in defeat. “Fine, but if she gets caught, you get to explain to the Guardians why we allowed her to take it.”

“Fine by me,” my dad says as he takes the suitcases from me.

“She won’t get caught. This dagger… I had a spell put on it that makes it undetectable from anyone and any machine. Eventually, the magic will wear off, but for now, Alana should be able to carry it around with her.” My grandpa sticks out his hand, urging me to take the dagger. “Only use it for emergencies and keep it hidden whenever you can.”

I pluck the dagger from his hand, noting the handle and blade have traces of violet swirled through the silver. “I highly doubt I’m going to be running into much while I’m there.”

“You should always be prepared for the worst,” my grandpa states ominously.

Puzzlement etches my mom’s face. “What exactly do you think’s going to happen?”

“You take care of yourself, Alana.” My grandpa ignores my mom as he hugs me farewell. “And call if you need anything at all.”

I nod, hugging him back. “Grandpa, are you sure you’re okay? You’ve been acting weird since yesterday.”

He fakes a smile, waving me off. “I’m fine. I’m just little sad. I’m going to miss all our bets and challenges.” I can tell he’s hiding something.

“Yeah, me, too.”

I don’t have too much time to overanalyze his sketchy behavior, though, because my mom announces it’s time to go. I say good-bye to my grandpa one last time before we head out to the car.

I fight back the tears as we pull away from the house. My mom cries the entire drive to the airport while my dad remains quiet. Me, I’m stuck in my own worry of what the Academy will be like, whether I’ll be able to make friends, or if I’ll end up scaring everyone off with my awkward jokes.

I become so lost in my thoughts that I don’t realize we’ve arrived at the airport until my dad opens the door to get out. I unbuckle my seatbelt and meet him around the back of the car to get my bags out.

No one utters a word as we walk from the parking garage to the tunnel that leads to the entrance of the airport. When we’re almost to the doors, my mom wraps her arm around my shoulder.

“I thought I was going to have at least another year before you left us.”

“Mom, it’s going to be okay,” I reassure her. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

Her eyes glisten with tears. “You’re handling this much better than I thought you would. After how upset you were last night, I was worried you might try to run away.”

“I thought about it,” I say as the doors in front of us glide open. “But it wouldn’t do any good. You’d either have Grandpa use his Forseeing power to find me or have Aunt Aislin do a tracking spell.”

“True, but I’m still glad you decided to handle this maturely,” she says as we enter the busy airport.

For her sake, I just hope I can keep it up and don’t lose my shit when it’s time to take off.

“Where are we supposed to meet them?” I ask as we veer in the opposite direction of the ticket counter. “And don’t we need to get my ticket?”

“You’re not flying on a main airline,” my mom explains as we make our way toward the escalators. “The Academy has their own private jet.”

“Is that safe?” I hop onto the moving stairs with her and my dad. “To fly that way, I mean.”

My mom casts a quizzical glance at me. “Alana Avery, are you afraid of flying?”

“No.” But my thoughts laugh, liar, liar. I hadn’t realized it until now, but the idea of getting on an airplane makes me feel queasy. “How could I possibly be scared of flying with all the crazy stuff I’ve done?”

“It’s okay to be scared of ordinary stuff,” she says. “Sometimes, ordinary can be scarier when you’re not familiar with it.”

I want to argue that I’m not scared and put on my brave face, but I get distracted by a guy wearing black cargo pants, a dark T-shirt, and matching combat boots standing at the top of the escalator.

As we near him, his silver eyes lock on me.

Mother-effer.

Wolf guy from the club the other night eyeballs me. It’s only when he reaches up to scratch his forehead that I realize why he’s here.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I grumble to myself as I spot the Guardian mark on his arm.

As if reading my lips, his mouth curls into a grin.

“Asshole,” I mutter.

“Alana, watch your language,” my mom scolds me as we shuffle off the escalator.

Wolf guy smirks at that. I’m about to tell him to shove his smirk right up his ass when my dad sticks out his hand toward wolf dude.

“Jaxon, it’s so nice to see you again. It’s too long if you ask me.”

“It has, hasn’t it?” Wolf Guy—Jaxon—replies, shaking my dad’s hand. “And please, call me Jax. Everyone does.”

Come again? They know each other?

“How the hell do you know him?” I ask my dad. And since when does my dad shake hands with werewolves?

“Alana, be nice.” My dad blasts me a warning look. “Consider yourself lucky that he’s going to be your escort to the Academy.”

“Gee, lucky me,” I say sarcastically, giving a discreet, dirty look in Jax’s direction.

He can pretend all he wants, but I know what kind of a guy he really is: the kind who pushes vampires off roofs and threatens to kill me if I get in his way.

He winks at me before facing my dad. “Oh, I’m not just escorting her there, sir.” Yep, he actually called my dad sir. Way to kiss ass, wolf guy. “I’m going to be her partner, too.”

I grind my teeth. What are the odds of ending up with a guy who not only knew my plan to eliminate Anastasiya and threatened to kill me, but then he killed her himself?

“That’s great news.” My dad genuinely smiles at me for the first time since I broke the news to him that I’m a Guardian. “I feel so much better about sending you there now that I know you’ll be in good hands.”

“I thought you weren’t worried about me?” I remind my dad.

“Of course I’m worried. You’re my only daughter, and while I love you to death, you seem to cause trouble wherever you go. Usually, you have Jayse with you, so I have a little peace of mind, but the idea of you being on your own…” He shakes his head. “Well, I’m just glad you won’t be alone.”

I peek at Jax who’s staring across the airport at the food court then lean in toward my dad, lowering my voice. “For all you know, this guy could be as reckless as me … You know he’s a werewolf, right?”

“I know of the unfortunate incident that happened to him. You don’t need to bring it up. Jax’s father is a good man. He’s helped me out more than a few times.”

“You’re a good man, and look at how I turned out.”

“You turned out fine.” But he seems more hesitant now.

“Alana, please behave and be nice to Jax,” my mom says, moving between my dad and me. “It’ll be easier if can start this new school with at least one friend. I know how hard it can be for you sometimes.”

I want to tell them what happened at the club the other night and see if they remain on the besties-with-Jax page, but I decide to let it drop. It doesn’t matter what I say. They’ll still make me go to the academy. At least, if I pretend to try to be friends with Jax, they won’t worry about me. Besides, if Jax did murder Anastasiya, then technically it’s my job to figure out why, not my parents.

My mom takes my silence as an agreement to behave. She turns to Jax, giving him a warm smile. “Jax, it’s so nice to meet you. My husband has told me nothing but wonderful things about your family.”

“I’m sure he has.” Jax returns my mom’s smile, but he shifts his weight, seeming uneasy. “I hate to rush you guys, but we do need to get to the plane. Take off is”—he glances at his watch—“in less than an hour.”

“Oh, of course.” My dad collects my bags and wheels them with

him as he heads off with Jax toward a set of gliding doors.

My mom drapes an arm over my shoulder as we follow them. She continuously tells me that everything is going to be okay as we make our way through security and outside to a small plane with a portal stairway pushed up against it.

“Call me every single day and night.” She hugs me good-bye, squeezing me so tightly I swear my lungs are going to burst.

“I will,” I promise, fighting back the tears.

Eventually, I move away from her arms and say good-bye to my dad. He makes me promise the same thing as my mom before reluctantly letting go. Then I climb the stairs to the plane, waving good-bye to them before ducking inside.

The plane is smaller than I expected with only ten seats, four of which are occupied by three men dressed in dark suits and a woman sporting a collared shirt. They all look at me with annoyance when I walk up the aisle.

“Great, just what we need,” the woman says to the man sitting beside her. “A Keeper to corrupt the Academy.”

The man shoots me the death glare when he notices me eavesdropping. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah, you can stop insulting my entire family.” I refuse to be intimidated by a guy who’s probably never fought a day in his life. “If your Academy is corrupt, it has nothing to do with the Keepers.”

“You speak highly of a group you’re no longer a part of.” The woman’s eyes narrow on me. “Alana Avery. That is your name, right? Daughter to Alex and Gemma Avery, who from my notes, are fairly high up in the Keepers’ circle, and granddaughter to Julian Lucas, a very powerful Foreseer.”