Exordium (Emberhold Academy #1)

7. Reverie

Chapter 7

Reverie

W e walked into the assembly hall and found seats close to the top. As usual, Nathan pulled me onto his lap instead of letting me have my own seat. Zane sat beside Nathan, leaned down, and pulled my feet, boots and all onto his lap. Then Nathan and Zane proceeded to stare at each other.

I glanced at Nathan and then looked back at Zane. I had no idea how this was going to turn out. Zeke took the seat on Nathan’s other side, grabbed my hand, and weaved our fingers together. Nathan turned and looked at Zeke. I was starting to feel like I was participating in a game of Twister.

The way they kept staring at each other was making me nervous. I tried getting up and pulling free of them because I didn’t want to put on a show for everyone. But not one of them would let go.

After the long stare down, Nathan calmly turned his head and faced forward like nothing had ever happened. Zeke and Zane smiled at each other and relaxed their shoulders.

I took a deep breath and whispered to the guys, “I thought we would just stay friends until after initiation?”

“Friends do this,” Zeke whispered.

Nathan put his lips to my other ear, “The closer the friends, the deeper in.”

Zane started cackling, glancing at Nathan, and said, “We’re going to get along just fine.”

Well then. I guessed that was that. I was sure the blood ritual was in my future sooner rather than later. These three were clearly unhinged and here to fuck shit up.

“I guess I’ll just sit way over here, away from my bestie. Unless Nathan will let me sit on Reverie’s lap.” Chloe gave Nathan doe eyes.

“No,” Nathan said and scowled. “Stop saying you’re her best friend. You’re a friend not the best friend.” He gave her the evil eye.

I elbowed him for looking at my new friend like that. But as much as I wanted to disagree with him and be all “sisters before misters,” The truth is that I knew in the deepest recesses of my heart nothing would pry Nathan from my side or from having my back. I’d just met Chloe and hoped for a lifetime friendship, but my parents had taught me that friendships took time, and actions spoke louder than words. Zeke and Zane being part of my Faction, and what I knew of Chloe so far, gave me hope, but only time would tell.

Feeling eyes burning a hole in my head, I turned and saw Kristine and three other girls walking into the assembly hall. Kristine narrowed her eyes at me and whispered something to the tall blond beside her. The blond sneered at me and the guys and whispered back into Kristine’s ear.

The girls took seats across the aisle from us, continuing to whisper amongst themselves and glancing back at our group occasionally. I knew they would be a problem, precisely what I didn’t want to deal with right before initiation.

A large door opened, and the Aurathion Council filed in, with Council President Randell Hunter stopping to sit on the throne-like chair in the middle. Everyone got quiet and trained their attention to the hall floor. The dean of Emberhold Academy walked up to the podium.

“Hello Aurathions! I’m so glad to see a full assembly hall on this first day of learning. I’m Dean Mathews. My staff and I have worked tirelessly to make this new year a productive one. Our numbers have been down in the last few years. We hoped that, with the number of Passives that registered, more Aurathions will find their Faction. Thus, helping us to defend this new world we have integrated into.” He took a sip of water and then continued.

“Most of you come from families that remember the war and fought for our world. But it excites me to tell you that in the last few years, the Council has conducted extensive searches for Passive families that came to this world years before the war. Some had no memory or idea that their ancestors hailed from another world. It is my pleasure and great privilege to welcome our Council and ask our Council President, Randall Hunter, to step up to the podium.” Dean Mathews gave him a welcoming smile.

The Council President was a tall, distinguished man. He had dark hair cut short, a neatly trimmed beard, and wore a suit with a tie. I’d always thought he was a handsome man. I had met him many times over the years. Mr. Hunter had been a friend to my parents. He had fought closely with them in the war. Unfortunately, their friendship had taken a beating after he started pressuring my mom to seek out other Passives for her Faction.

I know the divide between my family and Mr. Hunter’s family had upset Mom. Mr. Hunter had three Faction, Marylynn, Helen, and Joan. All three of the women had been super close to Mom. Their support after losing Sly and Rue had been invaluable to her. Mom had felt betrayed, especially because Randall had been close to my father, Sly. They were distant cousins and had grown up together. I’d heard Grumpy talking to Mom several times about Mr. Hunter and how he thought he wanted the best for his people. But, after losing the war and fleeing their world, he became obsessed with transforming more Passives into Faction.

They understood what he was trying to do. More powerful Factions were needed to defend our new home. But, trying to force Passives into Faction just hit a little too close to what the leader of the Dark Faction had done. The blood ritual rarely worked unless the Passive and the Nexus had that beautiful mystical connection, and when it did, some gained weak abilities and even worse, no abilities at all.

“Hello Aurathions! I’m honored to welcome you to the most critical years in our people’s journey to defend and thrive in our new home. The threat from the Dark Nexus and his perverted Faction caused us to have to flee our precious home and seek sanctuary in this new world.” He spoke in an impassioned voice. “The program we have implemented to find Passive families has been wildly successful. Over seventy-five new hopefuls will be starting at Emberhold this year. We are sure that expanding the number of Passives will lead to more Factions being formed. I send many good wishes in the hope that every one of you passes the initiation Emberhold Academy has in store. Thank you for your service and may the Ancestors of the past be with you on your journey toward the future.”

The Council stood and applauded, along with the student body. President Hunter bowed his head and then returned to his seat. Dean Mathews returned to the podium.

“Students, please head to your first block. After today, if you want to change your schedules or think you have met fellow Passives who might be Faction members, please report it to me or my staff. The latter only applies to incoming students after initiation. Good luck.”

As we all got up and filed out, Nathan stepped to the side, pulling me into an alcove off the hallway. The twins followed. “This looks like a Faction thing, so I’ll see you in class. This time, I control the seating order.” Chloe said, sticking out her tongue in Nathan’s direction before she walked off.

I laughed, “OK, I’ll be there shortly.”

Nathan watched Chloe walk away with zero expression and turned back to me. “I’m not sure I’m enjoying you having friends. It seems like sharing you with other Faction should be enough,” he pouted.

“I need some female friends to complain to about y’all. It’ll make our relationship healthier.” I grinned.

“I’ll set up a complaint box in my bedroom, and you can drop all the complaints there.” He gave me an innocent look.

“That’s an excuse to get our Nexus into your room,” Zeke smirked.

“First of all, she’s not your Nexus. She’s just mine. And-” Zane interrupted Nathan.

“Yet. She’s not our Nexus yet. But, she will be.”

“Maybe, maybe not. It depends on whether I approve of you or not. And, if you keep interrupting me, your chances are getting slimmer.” Nathan narrowed his eyes.

“That’s not the way it works, asshole,” Zane narrowed his eyes.

Nathan stepped up to Zane, getting in his face. Zeke stepped up to his brother’s side. Then the stare-down commenced.

“OK, I’ve seen enough! Was there a point to this meeting or are you three just going to throw down and get it over with?” These men were about to get a beat down, I was getting tired of their shit.

The stares transferred to me. Unfortunately for them, Adelaide had raised me, and they didn’t intimidate me at all. Tapping my foot, I gave them my best, I mean business look, “Well, time is wasting away. What did you want, Nathan?”

A little shocked by my nonchalant attitude. The twins relaxed their stance and stepped back a little. Nathan, not shocked at all, just walked over and kissed my forehead, then adjusted his pants.

“You know, when you get cocky, it makes my cock want to rise to the occasion,” he winked at me. Zeke and Zane both burst out laughing, and Nathan joined in. It was like their standoff didn’t happen and now they were the best of friends. Guys were dumb.

I pouted at Nathan and walked closer, “You’re such a big, strong man, and I love when your cock rises to the occasion.” I ran my hand down his chest in the direction of his dick. Zeke and Zane were watching us with heated eyes. Nathan, for his part, was looking at me with suspicion… smart man. Moving my hand to his crotch I thumped the cock he was so proud of. Side note: he had a reason to be proud.

“Hey!” Nathan screamed in a high-pitched voice. “You don’t want to damage Big John.” I looked at him in shock.

“You do know that’s my Grumpy’s name, right?”

“Yeah, so?” He raised his brow.

“So, you better name it something else, or you’ll never enter my love castle again,” I narrowed my eyes.

“Love castle?” Zeke questioned, looking at Zane.

“I’ve always wanted to be a knight rescuing the princess. Maybe I can bring my battering ram to break into the gates?” Zane looked hopeful.

“I think we’ve gotten a little off topic. What was so important you risked making us late for class?” I asked, giving Zane the side-eye. Battering ram, what the actual hell?

“I didn’t know the soulless wonders would join us.” Nathan eyed the twins. “I just wanted to ask you when we would report our Faction status to the dean?”

Was this fool serious? So far, I hadn’t actually lied to the twins about not needing the ritual. But if I publicly claimed Nathan, the Council would know we’d never registered to perform the ritual. Not to mention, we would never have been permitted to do it until after initiation. I would eventually have to come clean with the twins because Nathan and I would have to do the blood ritual to confirm him as Faction to the Council. We needed to discuss when we wanted to tell them.

Zeke rolled his eyes at Nathan, “Firstly, of course, we would join you. We expect to be full members of this Faction soon, with or without your approval. Secondly, you aren’t going to be able to do that yet.”

“Why the fuck not?” Nathan glowered at Zeke.

“It’s unheard of for there to be a partially formed Faction before initiation. Also, I’m pretty sure the Hawthorne Faction didn’t get permission to perform the ritual, if that’s what happened.” Zeke glanced at me as if he would find the answers on my face. Apparently, he didn’t buy in to the conclusions Chloe had come to. “Drawing the Council’s attention wouldn’t be a great idea. In fact, after initiation, it might be better for us to do the ritual first.”

“The hell you say? I’ll be damned if you two become official Faction before I do.” Nathan bit out.

“Calm down, Psycho,” I stepped up to Nathan and hugged him, “He does have a point. Especially when it wouldn’t take too much digging to find out about our relationship. My parents have enough issues with the Council that I wouldn’t want to add to it. There is no question that we’ll wait until after initiation. Then I’ll request that we perform it together.” Turning to the twins, I gave them a stern look, “That goes for both of y’all, too. No stirring up trouble. We’ll just carry on like we’re exploring our options.”

“We just want to get to know you better and show you what we bring to this Faction. You are the most beautiful, incredible Nexus anyone has ever had, and we’re fortunate to call you ours.” Zane lifted my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it gently. He then turned to Nathan, “Look, man, we aren’t your enemy. We grew up in this world, and I know it’s all new to you, and parts of it will seem strange or hard to accept. We want to get to know you too and answer any questions you might have from a male’s perspective.” Nathan gave the guys a cool nod.

“I did feel strangely accepting of you both right from the start. This world is different and finding out I’m Aurathion has been crazy. I’m letting y’all know from the beginning I’ll do anything for Reverie.” He pulled me into his arms. “Anything. I’ve loved her for years, so I’m on board with whatever needs to happen to make me stronger for her.” He narrowed his eyes, “But let me be clear. If either of you does one thing to hurt her. I’ll put you in an unmarked grave. Well, what’s left of you after the pigs have had their fill.”

I leaned up and kissed his cheek. My Psycho was one of a kind. I was super proud of him for accepting this new culture and always putting my feelings first. I felt my heart overflow seeing all the guys coming together.

“Nice to know murder and crazy behavior get rewarded. I think we’re going to fit right in.” Zane grinned, letting the crazy from the coffee shop show in his eyes briefly.

OK, maybe they were three of a kind.

“Let’s get to class while y’all are still being nice to each other,” I smirked and led the way with my men following right behind. I put a little extra sway in my step. Hearing a whistle and then a slap, I burst out laughing.

“We are three lucky guys,” Zeke groaned, never taking his eyes off my ass.

I turned and winked at him over my shoulder and walked off into the sunset like the badass bitch I am. I then stepped on a pencil someone dropped and stumbled, caught myself, felt my face get hot, then resumed my ass swaying prowl down the hallway.

Fake it till you make it, baby.

“You got that right, brother,” Zane whistled again, dodging Nathan’s hand this time. “Shake that groove thing, Rev!” He yelled, ignoring my stumble. They’re not the only lucky ones, clearly, I was.

“What the actual Fuck? And who the fuck is Rev? That’s a stupid nickname.” Nathan scowled.

“Just trying out some options,” Zane smirked, then walked away whistling.

“Is he whistling, ‘My Milkshakes bring all the Boys to the Yard?’” Nathan narrowed his eyes on Zane’s back.

“I think he might be.” We looked at each other and started laughing. These two Moon boys were perfect for me, and I hated to see what them and Nathan got up to in the future. I grabbed Nathan’s hand and pulled him in the direction of our classroom.

“Come on crazy, I don’t want to be late.” Per our entire relationship, Nathan followed along right by my side. Before we entered the classroom, I stopped him and narrowed my eyes, “I meant it about you renaming your penis. Why in the world would you think it would be sexy to call it Big John?”

“‘Just trying out some options’,” he winked at me, mocking Zane.

“You’re absolutely ridiculous, and you’d better hope Grumpy never finds out,” I gave him the side-eye.

“He should be flattered, my penis is big and gorgeous.” Nathan smiled, showing all his teeth.

I just stared at him, speechless. Somehow, I didn’t think Grumpy would take it as a compliment. On the other hand, Pop would love it.

We walked into history class just in time to sit in the seats Chloe saved for us. Jet was seated at the desk directly behind me. The professor entered right after the bell rang and stood behind the podium. He was average height, with short silver hair.

“Hello, class. My name is Professor Austin. Welcome to Aurathion History. I can’t wait to begin teaching you about your heritage. For those Passives who have just found out about their lineage, I will be assigning you a tutor. This will be one of our upperclassmen.”

Walking to his desk, he grabbed some papers and asked a girl in the front to pass them out. “This is a little pop quiz to see how much information you have and if it’s correct. Newly found Passives, answer as much as you can. This will help me assess how much help you need.” He explained.

Nathan leaned over and whispered in my ear, “I won’t be tutored by anyone other than you. Let’s hope Big John and Little Jesse taught me enough.”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now? At this rate, we may never have sex again.” I looked at him in astonishment. “And I’m telling Pop you called him ‘Little Jesse’. I’m sure y’all can work it out on the mats.” I could swear I heard Jet chuckle. Turning my head to check, I found him as stoic as ever.

“Damn N- Reverie, no need to go full-out Beth Dutton on my ass. Nobody can take a joke anymore.” Nathan winced knowing he almost messed up and called me Nexi.

“Well, bless your little Psycho heart,” I smiled sweetly. “Now pay attention and use that sharp mind for something other than torturing me.”

Nathan grumbled under his breath about mean southern women but looked down at his test and got started.

I knew all the questions. I hoped correctly and turned in my test first. Directly behind me was Jet. We both returned to our desk and waited for the rest of the class to finish. Class ended about twenty minutes later with one poor guy turning in his test right before the bell rang.

“How did you do?” I asked Nathan.

“I think I did well. Your Grump would shoot me with his airsoft gun every time I got a question wrong.” He grumbled, “I became extremely motivated to study.”

“He did what?” Chloe laughed.

Jet followed close behind us, and once again, I thought I heard him chuckling. But when I looked at him, his face was utterly expressionless.

I grinned at Chloe, and leaned close, not wanting Jet to hear, “Grumpy had a lot of aggression to work out when Nathan became my Faction. To say he had to warm up to him is putting it mildly.”

Walking down the hall, I felt eyes on me and saw Kristine marching toward us with her band of girls from the auditorium. Walking straight up to Nathan, she pouted, “I don’t know what little Moon here told you about me, but I’m no threat to you. I thought we could get to know each other if I tutored you. I’m extremely knowledgeable and not just in History.” She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

In the most high-pitched voice I’d ever heard, Blondie stepped up next to Nathan, “Chloe’s always been jealous of her brother’s time and attention. That’s the only reason she doesn’t like Kristine.”

What the actual fuck? This girl must have a death wish. What was the deal with Blondie? Was she some kind of ambassador for Kristine? Nathan moved closer to me and put his arm around my waist. “I don’t give a single fuck about getting to know you. Reverie is the only tutor I need, so kindly fuck right off,” he said, mean mugging the fuck out of her.

“Who is Reverie?” Kristine pouted, looking directly at me.

“Well, aren’t you just cute as a bug?” I smiled sweetly. Nathan looked at Chloe and whispered, “Slowly back away.”

“Why?” Chloe frowned.

“Cause shit is about to get real.” He backed up to stand next to Jet.

Kristine looked confused by this point but was unwilling to back down. “I asked you a question, Chloe,” she said sharply. Blondie stepped up and nodded her head in Chloe’s direction in a get-to-it gesture.

I know this bitch isn’t talking to my new friend like that. I’m about to go straight up western on her ass. I stepped closer to Kristine, “My name is Reverie Hawthorne. Are we going to have a problem?”

Kristine wrinkled her nose like she smelled something bad.

“A Hawthorne? I’ve heard of you. Your mom didn’t do her duty and bring more Passives into her Faction.” She looked at me like I was gum on her shoe, then said in a haughty voice, “She should have been grateful they requested it of her after there were rumors your dad Rue was involved with the Dark Factions.”

I pulled back my fist and punched her right in the nose.

That’s how I ended up in the dean’s office on my first full day of classes at Emberhold Academy.