Lock and Key (Nocturne Academy 1)

“Well—those under the red banner are the Nocturnes,” Emma began practically. “Kind of what the outside world calls ‘vampires’ only they don’t burn up in sunlight, like all the legends say. I mean, some of the more powerful ones have eyes that are really sensitive to it, but that’s about it.”

“Really?” I wasn’t sure whether to believe her or not, but she was speaking in such a matter-of-fact tone it was hard to disbelieve entirely too. Also, I couldn’t forget Griffin’s dark glasses, which he seemed to wear everywhere.

“They don’t have a problem with garlic or crosses or sunlight either,” Kaitlyn remarked. “Those are all just legends made up by humans who were scared of them and wanted to feel safe. But really, they’re very kind. At least, the family sponsoring me is.”

“Kaitlyn lives with the Breedloves,” Emma explained. “On the weekends, anyway.”

“I’ve been with them since the fire,” Kaitlyn said quietly and then looked down to pick at her food—the unappetizing-looking bright orange casserole which she and Emma were both eating.

I wanted to ask “what fire” but just then I caught sight of her hands. She, like me, was wearing a long-sleeved winter uniform blouse instead of a short-sleeved summer one. I couldn’t see her arms but the skin on the backs of her hands was twisted and scarred—whitish-pink instead of the smooth brown I had seen on her face—the part of it I could see, anyway.

“Moving on,” Emma said diplomatically. “The Faes are from the Realm—which really is a whole other world. Most of the ones who come here are sent by their parents for political reasons or because they got into trouble at the Seelie Court or because they need to be able to pass for human during business negotiations. They come through the Obsidian Portal to get here.”

“Wait—the what portal?” I asked.

“It’s kind of a magic door located somewhere on the school grounds—nobody but the Fae and the Headmistress knows where, though,” Emma explained. “And since no one without Faerie blood can pass through to get to their world, it’s kind of a one-way door, unless you’re Fae. It’s all very complicated.” She waved a hand, as though the situation was too convoluted to go into.

“Okay, got it. And the Drakes?” I asked, eyeing Sanchez who was flicking some of the rare roast beef with his fork at another beefy looking boy sitting further down the table from him.

“Oh, they’re were-creatures,” Emma explained, as though I should know what that meant. “They change forms.”

“What—like werewolves?” I asked, frowning.

“Hardly.” Emma laughed, as though this was a silly suggestion. “They’re not called Drakes for no reason you know. They change into dragons.”

“It might be more accurate to say they each have a dragon inside them,” Kaitlyn said quietly, entering the conversation again. “It’s supposed to have a whole separate personality and everything.”

I stared at the two of them in disbelief.

“Oh come on. You’re not serious!”

“Of course we are!” Emma exclaimed indignantly. “Just don’t get one of them pissed off if you don’t want to meet his dragon directly.”

“Him? He?” I asked, looking at the girls sitting at the Drake table. There weren’t many of them—maybe six or seven to the twenty or thirty boys I saw—but they were there.

“Oh—female Drakes don’t have a dragon inside,” Emma explained, following my gaze. She shrugged. “Don’t ask me why—everything I just told you is the sum total of what I know about Drakes except that they have nasty tempers.”

“They really do,” Kaitlyn put in.

Which brought to mind the split second when Sanchez’s eyes had seemed to turn yellow back in English class. Had that been his dragon peeking out at me? And was I really believing all this crazy stuff?

Somehow it seemed like I was—at least partially.

“Okay,” I sighed. “It sounds bizarre and I feel like Alice after she went through the looking glass but…okay.”

There was only one group left and I had a feeling I didn’t really want to know about them—but I had to ask.

“What about the Sisters?” I asked, looking at the all-female table where Nancy Rattcliff was sitting. She was eating something in slow, deliberate bites and glaring at me—probably my first lunch which she had thrown on the ground.

This told me two things—first that the Headmistress must have real power for Nancy to be eating the floor-food even when the older woman wasn’t standing there to make her. And second…

I had made a lasting enemy.

Great. Just great.

I looked away from Nancy and back at Emma.

“So the Sisters,” I said again. “What are they and are they all female?”

“They’re witches of course,” she said frowning. “But are you really going to tell me you didn’t at least know that?”

“Isn’t your aunt a witch?” Kaitlyn asked. “How else could she get here to apply you for admittance? The Guardian won’t let just anyone come up and knock on the Academy’s door, you know.”