1

T he reason I’m here is because the headmistress decided I was to be collected from the Mortal Realm and brought to this deserted island. In the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by a sea that seems to stretch to the end of the world. The past week since being brought to my room, I’ve stood by my window and watched the sun rise and set, the moon taking over the scene, and the way the water meets the beach.

To the right of a vast forest is a lake that nearly takes up the entire island, and I swear I’ve spotted something extremely large swimming around in it.

This place isn’t normal. These people—things—aren’t normal.

The school uniform is tight on my body. The black shirt buttons up to my throat, there’s a black tie with an academy crest, and a matching pleated skirt sits high on my thighs.

I feel like I’m in a dream. A nightmare. Today is the first day of classes, and I’ve already been denied a meeting with the headmistress to get answers. Everyone is taller than me. Freakishly taller. Some don’t speak my language, and I’m sure they’re not human.

I know they’re not. No one on this island is except me.

I jump as a knock sounds at my door. My blood runs cold as the knock sounds again, and as I smooth down my uniform and slowly open the door, I stare at two girls.

One grins at me. “Hi, I’m Poppy.”

The other, evidently Poppy’s identical twin, seems bored. “Mel,” she greets, popping her hip out. “We have our first class, and Mrs. Dalton told us to collect you, so you know where you’re going, since you missed the introduction day. Grab your satchel.”

“I…” My voice shakes and stops, my hand rubbing up and down my arm. “Can you help me get home?”

“No,” she replies, while the cheery one slides past me and into my room, picking up my satchel and slipping it over my shoulder. “Let’s go, Sera.”

“How do you know my name?”

Mel nudges Poppy when she fails to respond. Her smile falters, but she paints it back on. “Mrs. Dalton told us. We need to go now, or we’ll be late for our first class.”

Against everything telling me to slam the door in their faces and hide in the bathroom, I take one last look at my dorm room and follow them into the corridor—stone walls lined with candles and paintings and a pinned piece of paper that explains the rules of the girls’ dorm rooms.

I don’t bother reading them. It’s a mistake that I’m here. And as Poppy starts to talk, the more I realize how true that is.

“So, the first class is mortal studies. We all need to learn the ways of humans so we can pass through the realms to their world. Tomorrow, we’ll be covering combat, so we know how to fight like humans.” She tuts. “Rather annoying that we can’t defend ourselves using our powers. What do you wield?”

I frown. “I don’t wield anything.”

She giggles. “We all hold some sort of power. Mel and I are twins, so our powers are the exact same. We control water, and we don’t feel pain.”

I gulp. “I’m… I’m human.”

Mel and Poppy both stop walking and turn to me. “What?”

Pulling my satchel up my shoulder, I chew my lip. “Some people showed up at my apartment and brought me here. I’m from Earth.”

Mel looks at Poppy. “Earth is the Mortal Realm.”

“Oh,” she replies, confused. “You’re probably going to die here then.”

My eyes widen, and I take a step back. “What do you mean?”

“Well, if you fail classes, you get taken to the dungeons. Most of us don’t get back out of there. We have a year to pass all of our classes and prove we can pass to the Mortal Realm, but if you’re already human, I don’t see why you’re here. They’ll probably get rid of you as soon as they find out.”

Mel elbows her. “You idiot.”

But I’ve already dropped my satchel and turned on my feet to run down the spiral stone stairway, nearly slipping when I reach the bottom. Students who tower over me stare at me as I run through the main corridor to the exit, and no one stops me as I push open the doors and desperately try to reach the pier off the side of the beach, needing to get onto the little boat and get the hell away from here.

As soon as my feet carry me down the path towards the water, a large mass appears in front of me out of nowhere, and I collide with their chest so hard, I’m thrown back, hitting the back of my head off the ground.

My vision blurs, and I groan as I sit up, the shadow standing above me shading the sun and turning everything around me dark.

I note hair as white as snow, almost silver, with the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen as he comes into view, a desperate look in his gaze.

“Who the hell are you people?” I shout, pushing to my feet. I barely reach his chest.

At my words, the worried look vanishes from his handsome face, and his jaw sets, his eyes darkening. He steps forward, and my neck aches when I try to hold eye contact.

“Dane,” he says. “Ever heard of me?”

Trembling, I shake my head. “Never.”

The concern vanishes from his face entirely, anger replacing it, and he grabs my chin in a firm grip, drags me towards the pier, and whispers in my ear. “You don’t belong here, human. You’ll be ripped apart by the end of the fucking week.”

He shoves me forward, and instead of falling onto the start of the pier, pressure encases me, everything spins, and I drop onto the floor of my dorm room.