Lock and Key (Nocturne Academy 1)

“It’s life.” Emma shrugged. “At least I was able to get special permission to leave campus during the week to work or I never would have been able to attend Nocturne Academy at all.”

I bit my lip. “So…you need special permission to leave? You can’t just wander off campus any time you want?”

“My Goddess, no.” Avery sounded shocked. “That’s an expulsion offense. Headmistress Nightworthy does not allow sneaking out. Plus the Guardian would probably eat you if it caught you going off grounds without permission.”

“The Guardian?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“The sea-monster in the lake,” Kaitlyn supplied. “Some people say it’s related to the Drakes in some way but who knows?”

I remembered the huge scaly head and the dinner plate-sized golden eye I had seen peering at me from the opaque black waters of the lake that morning. God, had it really only been that morning I’d first seen the Academy? It seemed like a lifetime ago!

“Why do you ask about sneaking out?” Avery asked, breaking my concentration. “Were you planning to leave yourself?”

“Me? Oh, no,” I said frowning. “It’s just that I saw…” I put a hand to my throat, where the key was quivering threateningly. “I thought I saw someone sneaking out tonight.”

“Really? Who?” Avery leaned forward, clearly excited for some juicy gossip.

“It was…was…” The key tightened, not allowing me to say Griffin’s name. “It was a really tall Nocturne who’s in my English class,” I said at last.

“Well that narrows it down.” Avery sounded disappointed. “All Nocturnes are tall and lean and perfect—that’s what a diet of pure blood will do to you.”

“Do they really drink human blood?” I asked, frowning.

“Goodness no—not except for special occasions when they buy it from the blood bank,” Kaitlyn said firmly. She sounded like she knew what she was talking about and I remembered she lived with a family of Nocturnes on the weekends.

“They mostly subsist on animal blood,” Avery said. “Though I have heard some scintillating rumors about how they like to bite their lovers when they get, shall we say, intimate.”

“I don’t think the act of biting and taking blood is only sexual,” Kaitlyn objected. “Sometimes it’s an act of comfort or healing. It’s the intention behind it that counts.”

“The way you can get a hug from your parents or a hug from your boyfriend—if you have one, which none of us does,” Emma said dryly. “It can mean two different things even though it’s the same physical gesture.”

“Exactly.” Kaitlyn nodded.

“But all this talk about Nocturnes taking blood still doesn’t tell us who the mystery man Megan saw sneaking out after curfew was,” Avery complained. “I need to know!”

“Honestly, Avery—you’re so nosy,” Kaitlyn scolded. “How could Megan know who it is? She only got here today—she barely knows us.”

“That’s not true,” Emma objected. “Megan belongs with us. I can’t explain it but…it’s almost like we’ve been waiting for her. Waiting for you,” she said to me, and ducked her head, as though she’d embarrassed herself. “I mean, I know that sounds weird…”

“Not really,” I said honestly. “I feel the same way. I mean…I’ve never fit in anywhere before. But with you guys I just…”

“Clicked,” we all four said together at the exact same time.

Emma and Kaitlyn looked at each other with round eyes and Avery was quiet for once.

“Did that just happen?” Emma asked at last, in a low voice. “Because it was kind of spooky.”

“No, it’s not—it just means that Megan is meant to be here,” Avery said with deep certainty. “She completes our little coven in some way.”

“But we can’t be part of a coven—Emma and I are Norms,” Kaitlyn protested.

“Are you really, though?” Avery asked mysteriously. “I mean, are you sure? Kaitlyn, you’re being sponsored by the Breedloves—Frostproof’s oldest and most prestigious Nocturne family. And Emma, you don’t even know who’s sponsoring you.”

Emma shifted on the couch uncomfortably.

“The Headmistress said it’s a generous benefactor who wishes to remain anonymous. She said I was picked at random from a lot of high achieving, low income kids.”

“Right. Picked at random.” The sarcasm in Avery’s voice made it clear what he thought of that idea.

“Look, I have to get to bed,” Emma said, frowning. “I don’t think Kaitlyn and I are qualified to be in a coven no matter who’s sponsoring us for the Academy.”

“Think what you want.” Avery waved one hand airily. “But we still don’t know the identity of Megan’s mystery Nocturne.” He frowned at me. “Can you describe him at least?”

“Well,” I said cautiously, keeping one hand to the key at my throat. So far it seemed willing to let me talk as long as I didn’t mention Griffin by name. “He’s got black hair and really intense eyes—pale gray with a ring of black all around them.”

“Hmm…go on.” Avery was frowning.

“He’s gorgeous,” I admitted, feeling a little quiver in the pit of my stomach when I thought of exactly how gorgeous the tall Nocturne was. “He’s extremely sarcastic. Oh, and he has a thick piece of black tape running down the middle of his red card—the one he has hanging from his lanyard,” I added for clarification.