CHAPTER 9

Stepping out of the subway, my eyes needed a moment to adjust to the sunlight after the encasing, claustrophobic darkness of the last few trains. And frankly, so did I.

The journey had been a headache to say the least. A blurred, rushed array of buses and trains and way too many changeovers. But I made it. And hopefully I wouldn't leave again for a while. Which is what I told myself multiple times along the four and a half hour journey. Nevertheless, this was why we never came to the city.

I threw my duffle bag back over my shoulder—so grateful that I packed extremely light—and began walking. It was less than a ten minute walk to the compound based on mum's directions but after the journey I had, I thought the least I deserved was a quick detour to see the Manhattan Bridge.

I tried to take it all in; the sounds, the bustle of the city. It was so different to the quiet of Saint Claire. And this was just Brooklyn.

When I got to the bridge, I welcomed the slight fresh air and wind that the river brought, the bridge ahead a beacon to the future that lay waiting for me. I'd be leaving everything behind.

I already felt like I'd left everything behind.

???

I neared the corner building that my maps showed to be the academy. The street was quieter than the others I'd passed and the building was large and looming. The first few floors were a traditional red brick but the top levels were a modern grey, like they had been added on later. I rounded the corner looking for the entrance only to find a large, dark steel archway that led to what seemed like some sort of courtyard for the block of buildings.

Guess I'd have to walk through there.

As I walked up to the metal door at the back of the loft-style Dumbo warehouse, I heard a guy"s voice call down from above me and I almost shat myself.

"You lost?" He jumped down from the fire escape and landed in front of me. I was caught off guard, taking a moment to look at the stranger. He was dressed almost entirely in black, sporting black pants, combat boots and a dark grey denim jacket thrown over a faded black hoodie. He was stunning in a rough, punk, "I'm better than the world" sort of way, like he knew he was attractive and used it to his advantage—A LOT. He was lightly tanned with a golden olive hue and under his hoodie I could just make out that his hair was a cool dark brown, almost black. He seemed no more than a few years older than me. Based on his attire, I could only assume he was part of the Gray Knights, which took the edge off the situation I had found myself in. That meant I was in the right place.

Usually my anxiety would get the better of me when I was in an unknown, potentially dangerous location. Not to mention when there was a guy that looked this good staring at me. But not today. Today I was on a mission and I needed to get in there. No time for fear—or butterflies. No distractions.

He was silent this whole time. His curious expression hinted that he was still waiting for me to reply. He smirked as though he was pleased at how my eyes trailed over his body. That instantly pulled me out of my thoughts and back to his question. I was basically dressed the same as him, ready for combat or training or whatever they called it. The audacity to assume I was lost. Smug prick. I was sick of people underestimating me.

Now I noticed he was taking me in. Shit, I'd been silent for a while, he probably thought I was crazy. Either that, or scared of him, and I didn't want him to pick up on that. Something told me the fucker enjoyed being intimidatingly gorgeous a little too much. "I'm looking for Thea," I finally spat out, giving him my best bored tone, hoping he'd leave me alone.

"Thea?" He looked me up and down again, his gaze falling to my black army boots and slowly sweeping up over my dark skinny jeans, black leather jacket and cropped grey long sleeve top, until it reached my hair, pulled into a high pony. "Interesting." It didn't escape me that as he was checking me out his eyes lingered on my hips, chest and finally my lips. Now it was my turn to smirk at him. I crossed my arms and leaned on my hip, frustratedly waiting for him to continue.

I'm sure he was wondering how the hell I had known who Thea was. Mum told me she was the one in command here and was tough as nails. "Thea's inside. But she doesn't take well to strangers," he continued, his tone abrupt and matter of fact. His voice was raspy, dangerous but alluring with an assured drawl that I could tell drew people in—made them curious.

"Well, we'll get along just fine then. I also don't take well to strangers." A lie, but I tried not to let him see it on my face as I attempted to walk around him. In truth I was quite good with strangers, usually nervous but polite. But in this case, I was shitting myself a little and trying to mask my anxious energy with bitterness, like I often did. The determination and confidence I felt earlier was shattered after this conversation with the unexpected and extremely attractive roadblock in my path.

He stepped in front of me. "Now, now. No need to get your panties in a twist, Princess. All I'm saying is that you'll do better with her if you have me on your side. She has a soft spot for me … kind of". He trailed off, mumbling the last part so I almost didn't hear it. I sighed—defeated, tired and wanting to get this over with.

"Lead the way then."

"If you insist, Princess," he replied, clearly amused as he turned around and opened the big steel door behind him with a self-satisfied smirk. I made a mental note that I hated that he called me ‘Princess' and I would hold it against him—even if he provided me an in with Thea. The way he said it oozed condescension.

"It's Venus." My reply was short and sharp.

He held the door open and waited for me to walk in, looking a tad surprised when I actually did, like he was expecting me to chicken out and run away. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. He looked me over again. "Cute."

I was already sick of his bullshit.

???

The large and ominous door that possibly held the key to my future and the safety of Saint Claire, opened up into a massive warehouse. The space was huge with concrete walls and beams that led up to an impossibly high ceiling made from steel. The walls were the height of the whole building. As I scanned the area, an agility course of ropes and other odd contraptions caught my eye about half way up the walls and spanning the entire space above our heads. People were up there too, jumping and swinging from various hanging bits with vigour and skill like I'd never seen. All of them were dressed in shades of black or grey. Up above the course, the ceiling was broken up by many large skylights with beautiful black steel frames, revealing the clear blue sky outside. Mixed amongst these windows were large industrial style fans that whirred loudly, presumably to prevent this tin can from turning into a furnace in the warmer months.

Once I pulled my eyes from the captivating view above me, I took in the one directly before me. The ground level was made up of multiple training stations. In front of me, on the right half of the warehouse, was a large sparring mat that, to my surprise, was occupied by two tough looking females deep in combat. They swiped at each other, ducking and weaving so gracefully, like dancers adorned in black. I was fairly certain my mouth was hanging open.

Around the graceful fighters were onlookers, watching and cheering. I had no idea how my attention went straight up when I first walked in instead of to all of this.

Behind the sparring section was a large weight area. The whole back side was made up of mirrors, from the corner of the space all along the wall, spanning right up until the centre where another large steel sliding door existed, directly opposite from where I stood now. I immediately wanted to know where it led and what mysteries hid behind it.

In front of the mirrors were long rows of racks filled with dumbbells. Again, these were also black and looked expensive, like a very high class gym in a luxury apartment. Clearly there was a common colour scheme in this place. Placed in and around that area were other types of gym equipment; different machinery as well as rows of benches, treadmills, and weight racks.

If I turned my head to the left, there was another fight ring, this one resembling a boxing arena. On the wall along my right side hung multiple punching bags and a rack of gloves. And on this same wall, but further towards the far corner, were a few large paned windows positioned at various heights, each with a little stage or landing station connected by ladders—sort of like an interior fire escape. This would have been what my welcoming-party-of-one must have used to station himself on that fire escape where he scared the living hell out of me. I risked a quick glance to my right again where he stood, watching me with an intense gaze. I was nervous to be so close to him and intimidated by the way he was looking at me, but I was also so intrigued by this place that I peeled my eyes away from him and hungrily looked towards the last part I hadn't taken in yet: the back left corner.

If my mouth wasn't hanging open before, it definitely was now. Along the whole side and back were racks and shelves of weapons. Guns, archery equipment and arrows hanging off the walls, tubs of bullets along shelves, swords on the opposite wall as well as rows of daggers and knives. It was a whole arsenal. I don't know why I was surprised, this was a supernatural hunting academy after all. But still.

"Like what you see, Starlight?" The husky voice beside me reminded me I wasn't alone. In fact, there were people training everywhere. A few of them were so focused that they didn't even notice us standing there, others curiously looked at us and some stared at me like I was truly a deer in headlights.

Oh, and it seemed like I had a new nickname. Guess it was an upgrade from ‘Princess' though, so I'd take it.

I looked back at the guy beside me, amusement clear on his face. I opened my mouth to answer but I was interrupted by a very intimidating middle aged woman with platinum blonde—almost silver—hair who was walking directly towards me. Her mouth was a hard line and her grey eyes felt like they pierced into my soul. Her gaze then turned to him. "Who the hell is this?" she snapped, nodding in my direction.

He remained calm, his lips titled up in a small smirk like he found the situation funny rather than intimidating. "This little thing was wandering around outside. She was looking for you actually, Thea."

So this was Thea? Her reputation preceded her; she was terrifying. Her silver hair was tied in a sleek, no-nonsense bun and her cold eyes had a ferocity in them that warned you not to mess with her. She was quite the opposite to mum and I struggled to picture them fighting side by side. Although, I guess I could see how they might have been yin and yang. She looked like she was powerful, robust and tough. She was quite tall for a female, towering over me, but not quite the height of my new male friend. Her shoulders were broad and her body was athletic with defined muscles. Mum was like me, small in height and petite looking, but she was toned and lithe. She would have been like those graceful fighters on that mat—that were now staring at me with daggers in their eyes—agile and quick.

I realised that once again I was silent for way too long, giving them all the opportunity to size me up and make their judgements. I needed them to see I was worthy. Worthy and not afraid. Although the second thing was definitely not true.

"I'm Venus," I offered, trying my hardest to sound confident. "I think you might know my mum, Maya Stone." She just stared at me, so I added, "and my aunt, Xari". The guy next to me was definitely intrigued now. The corners of his mouth tilted further up in curious surprise. Thea continued to stare, hands crossed and eyes hard; assessing.

"Maya sent you?" she replied, after what felt like way too many silent seconds.

"Yes. Well, kind of," I staggered. "She told me everything, but I wanted to come. I needed to." The last few words almost sounded like I was begging and I was not happy about the way it made me look.

"We don't just take in anyone at the Gray Knights. Even if you are a legacy. You'll need to show your worth." I was about to reply, telling her I'd do anything when she motioned for one of the pretty yet dangerous looking fighters from the sparring ring to come over. She jumped off the slightly raised platform. Her golden blonde hair was pulled into a tight pony, the under half a dark brown with the same lowlights scattered throughout. It swung as she strode towards us, proud and fierce. She had brown eyes and looked at me with a predatory stare that told me she'd eat me alive if she could. She flipped her ponytail back and then rested her hands on her hips, waiting. I didn't miss the look of desire she gave to the guy who still stood beside me, unusually close. He was angled towards me now and his stance was almost a little protective as these two females glared at me. She did not look too happy about it and I could already tell there was something there. I didn't necessarily think he was her boyfriend, otherwise the interaction might have gone differently. But whatever was going on between them, I could tell she was going to project any jealousy onto me in any way that she could, just for the fact that he was paying attention to me. She just seemed like that type and the look she gave me practically confirmed it. I swallowed down my fear.

"You'll spar against Sienna." Words I was hoping I wouldn't have to hear.