Academy of Protectors (The Protector Guild Book 1) Read online

  I wrinkled my nose, but didn’t respond. Cyrus never spoke of mates—or anything relating to the social lives of protectors—and the idea sounded primitive and forced. Were female protectors just treated like baby incubators? Because hell no, that would not fly with me.

  Ro took one look at me and laughed. “Don’t worry, Max. All the luck in the world to any man who thinks he can take care of you while still retaining his manhood.” He laughed softly, but I caught the way he studied Eli with curiosity and a hint of trepidation. Blood relatives or not, Ro was still just a protective older brother when it came to guys. I’m pretty sure the only reason he even let me go on a walk with Michael was because he was trying to get close to Jason and didn’t want to seem like too much of a prude. And look how that turned out.

  “Anyway,” Eli added, “My team will be helping with some of the training while she’s gone, along with my father and Cyrus if they’re needed. Trust me, you’ll be glad. The Headmistress can be a bit of a handful.” He shook his head and chuckled before turning yet another corner.

  “On a scale of McGonagall to Umbridge, where would you say she falls?” I asked, struggling to keep up with their long strides.

  At Eli’s curious stare, Ro laughed before explaining. “You’ll get used to it. Her only companions until I came around were books, TV shows, and movies. Most of which are outdated. And it’s not like the addition of me exactly extended her social circle into what counts as normal.”

  Eli nodded, but didn’t respond. He walked a few more feet before stopping at a large wooden door. “This is your suite.”

  When he handed identical keys to me and then Ro, I grinned, pounds of anxiety shedding away from me. “I get to stay with Ro?”

  “It’s not traditional for a woman to share a suite in the men’s lodging hall, but apparently Cyrus insisted on you two staying together when he called the school last night. You each have your own bedroom, and will share a living space and bathroom. Usually, first-year students don’t get such nice lodgings, but since you are both likely as advanced as the rest of your age group and since Cyrus is here as a favor to my father, he pulled a few strings. I’ll come collect you both at eight a.m. Sleep well.” With a quick wink in my direction, Eli sauntered off.

  Ro shoved me in the shoulder when he caught me staring at Eli’s very...firm exit. “Don’t go drooling over a boy on your first day. Especially one like that. His type always thinks with the wrong head, if you catch my drift.”

  “Shut up, jerk. I wasn’t. And like you’d know anything about types. We knew like five people back home.” I shoved him through the door and my jaw dropped when I got a look at our suite.

  The space was bigger than our entire cabin, with all the furnishings made of polished cherry wood. We even had a giant couch and TV in the shared lounge area, and our beds were twice the size of ours back home. It was just as beautiful as every other glimpse of The Guild we’d seen.

  “Maybe leaving home won’t be so bad, Ro.”

  Chapter Four

  Max

  I woke up around six, no longer able to contain the urge to explore. Ro and I had stayed up later than usual, taking in the beautiful suite until we eventually planted ourselves in front of the TV for a movie marathon—one of our favorite (and only)—pastimes. Still, after brushing my teeth and changing into leggings and a tank, I wasn’t surprised to find that Ro had just as much trouble sleeping in as I had. When you were used to waking before the sun each day to train, it became part of your internal clock. Cyrus had whole mantras about birds and worms and sun salutations. It was annoying, but you do anything for long enough and you can turn it into a habit.

  “Planning on going for a run too?” I stretched my hamstrings out one at a time, eager to explore the grounds as quickly as possible.

  “Yeah, wanted to squeeze one in before Eli swung by. Plus figured we could try and get a peek at the gym before training. It’s bound to be way more elaborate than Cy’s. This place is ridiculous.” Ro finished tying his gym shoes while I prepared a few bottles of water and ran through the rest of my usual pre-workout stretches. I liked to complain when Cyrus was around to hear it, but in all honesty, morning runs were my favorite part of the day. There was something seriously refreshing about pushing your body as far as it was willing to go. Maybe I was a masochist.

  As we wound through the halls, I made sure to let Ro lead. He was way better with directions and finding his way around. I got lost in the woods on a weekly basis. And I’d literally lived my entire life in those very woods.

  Tracking was a skill I was constantly trying to get better at, but I only seemed to be getting worse. After five minutes of wandering through empty halls, in a path I’d never be able to replicate on my own, we made our way to the front hall.

  The grounds were just as beautiful in the morning light, the entire castle surrounded by a lush forest and smaller buildings that likely housed Guild teams and gyms. Did most teams stay here once they graduated? The place was beautiful enough that I wouldn’t mind staying around for a few years.

  The backdrop of jagged mountains only served to highlight the quiet isolation of The Guild. Even without protective spells, I doubted many humans found their way to this small pocket of civilization. We’d driven miles yesterday without seeing a single car go by. It was like The Guild found a spot off the map somehow.

  We started at a brisk jog, but neither of us had the patience to go easy for long. Before we made it a quarter of a mile, we were running at an all-out sprint, each trying to outdo the other. We learned early on in our childhoods that turning exercise into a competition made it feel less like work and encouraged the time to fly by much more quickly. Though when it came to speed, there wasn’t much of a competition. I pulled past Ro quickly, laughing as I heard his growl of frustration. There was a clear track for running, but we were used to obstacles, having all of our cardio training in the middle of a forest, so I carved us our own path, hopping around stray buildings, statues, trees, and boulders, until we eventually made our way into some of the denser areas of the surrounding trees.

  After half an hour I circled back to find Ro, and we played our own version of stationary tag. It was a game we invented when we were kids, and it was our favorite way to test our strengths against each other. I was much faster, but Ro was better at defensive maneuvering and ridiculously good at predicting my every move, having sparred with me every day for the last eight years. We squared off, each trying to tag the other on the top of the head—an added difficulty for me, since I was so much shorter, that we’d adjusted as I improved at the game.

  After ten minutes, neither of us were any closer to tagging the other until Ro landed next to a thick tree. Seeing my opportunity, I sprinted, using the trunk as a springboard to climb up onto Ro’s shoulders. Laughing, I dragged my hand through his hair, sure to mess it up as much as I could. It was my sisterly duty. I cringed when I realized how sweaty and gross he was though.

  “Point goes to me today, Ro. We should head back and wash up before Eli comes to grab us.” I was winded and layered in enough sweat that I was beyond ready for a shower and platter of breakfast foods.

  A loud clap interrupted my laughter and Ro spun around, me still swaying awkwardly on his shoulders, and tensed. We were so used to being isolated in our cabin that we weren’t accustomed to observers. For a moment, we’d both forgotten we were on new terrain. Running had a way of taking us away from the world for a bit.

  “Well done, Max.” I recognized Eli’s deep, smooth voice.

  I hopped down from Ro, a smile still on my face until I noticed who was standing next to Eli.

  The surly guy from the dining hall stood a few inches taller than Eli, at well over six feet. His dark hair, stubble, and eyes, added to his mysterious and standoffish aura, and his grim expression had me uncharacteristically annoyed. The dude seemed to just exude anger, which pissed me off. I hadn’t done anything to earn it.

  Unable to hold eye contact, I looked to the right, finding that they weren’t alone. A girl, who seemed to be about the same age as them, stood next to Eli. She had long, shiny black hair that was looped up in a ponytail. Her skin was fair and smooth and looked like she’d never had a single blemish in her entire life, which was infuriating in a weird way. But I was quickly drawn to her eyes. They were the most intense emerald green shade I’d ever seen. Dark full brows that I would kill for made them stand out even more. She studied me with curiosity for a long moment before glancing quickly at Ro.

  All three were dressed in black athletic pants and t-shirts that clung tight enough to make it glaringly obvious that they were all stacked with the type of lean muscle that you only got from daily training.

  “Max, Ro, these are two of the members of my team.” Eli nodded towards Green Eyes first, “this is Declan and this,” he gestured quickly to the grumpy one, “is Atlas. He’s the team leader.”

  Ro nodded in greeting, so I followed suit, unsure if my mouth would be able to form words. I didn’t expect every single protector I met to be more intimidating than the last.

  “Dec, Atlas, you both owe me twenty bucks.” Eli winked in my direction, the flirtatious grin I was becoming familiar with planted back on his face. “I bet on you, beautiful.”

  “You’re fast, Max, it’ll be fun training with you later. It’s always fun when a girl can give the guys around here a run for their money.” Declan looked down at me and I found myself gaping at the unfair combination of beautiful eyes and a soft Irish accent. I felt so plain in comparison. My theory on the protectors here getting hit by the pretty stick was looking more and more like a reality.

  “I was on my way to grab a quick breakfast before getting you two, do you want to join us instead?” Eli asked. The sun was peeking through a bit, highlighting all of the different shades of brown and amber in his hair.

  Ro nodded, and the loud growl coming from my stomach served as my own answer.

  “Actually, I’m going to go setup for the morning session, E, I’ll catch you guys later.” Atlas nodded to Ro, “nice to meet you,” and then completely ignored me before turning around and jogging away from us. I gripped my hand into a fist and found myself getting angry. I didn’t know what the hell this guy’s problem with me was, but I was determined to find out.

  I piled two plates full of enough scrambled eggs to keep a dozen chickens busy, along with a stack of bacon and sausage. The unlimited food thing? I could totally get used to this. I turned to Declan, curious about what the first day of training for me and Ro would entail. I found her staring at me with her jaw dropped, not a morsel of food on her plate.

  “What?” I asked, shoving a strip of bacon into my mouth before wiping any grease droplets off my chin.

  Ro started laughing, before adding a cackled, “trust me, the girl will never be full. She could eat enough to energize half your army and she’d still be able to pack more away.”

  I swallowed the bacon, and then my embarrassment, noticing that my plate tripled and quadrupled almost everyone else’s. “Hey, if we’re training all day, I need the energy. This is just smart. Always be prepared, isn’t that the protector motto?”

  “I think that’s the boy scouts, Max.” Ro bit back another laugh, cutting his pancake into even, precise bites.

  “It’s refreshing to see a girl who doesn’t eat like a rabbit,” Declan said while grabbing a strip of my bacon and earning herself a growl. I didn’t share.

  With a wink, she took a bite and directed us towards a table in the back, the same one I’d spotted Atlas at last night. It was empty except for one person. He had pale blue eyes made more startlingly bright by the golden-brown hue of his skin and shortly-cropped dark hair. When he noticed us approaching, a brief smirk brightened his face, revealing a cute dimple that made my knees go a little wobbly. As we reached him, Declan pulled out a seat next to her own allowing me to sit. I wasn’t used to being around girls, and my nerves at the prospect of making a new friend were making me queasy.

  Declan cleared her throat. “Wade, this is Max and Ro. Ro, Max, this is Wade. He’s the final, and newest, member of our team.”

  “You’re Cyrus’s kids right?” Wade asked, his light blue eyes lingering on me for a long moment with curiosity.

  We didn’t usually engage in conversation when we ate our meals, so I tried swallowing my obscenely large mouthful of eggs in time to answer, but Ro beat me to the punch.

  “Sort of. He kind of took us in when we were younger. We’re both adopted.”

  “That’s awesome. My brother’s always told me how amazing of a fighter he was. He’s a bit of a legend around here.” Wade took a giant sip of coffee and I scrunched my nose in jealousy. I’d missed the coffee machine in my first pass through the line. I would have to make sure to hit it on my second.

  “Well, to us he’s mostly just known as a guy who doesn’t believe in sleeping in or rest days.” I looked around the dining hall which was beginning to thin out as students and team members went off to start their days. My eyes caught on a gray-haired old man who was swimming in a large lab coat. “Seamus mentioned that The Guild conducts research here. What exactly do you all study?” My brain spun off, wondering if some secret Frankenstein experiment was going on in the basement, under my feet, and if I could find a way to get in on that shit. I freaking loved Mary Shelley. Plus, I wouldn’t hate the opportunity to get some up close looks at the creatures we were training to kill.

  Wade and Eli shared a grim look before Declan turned to me, her teeth lightly playing with her full bottom lip. “The Guild doesn’t always prefer us to take out our targets during assignments. Occasionally, when we have the opportunity, they want us to bring the subjects here to study.”

  “What are they looking for?” I asked, my eyes drawn to the soft anger coating Wade’s expression. It was strange to see his kind, boyish face so stern, like there were two different versions of him suddenly at war.

  “We think they are trying to study the origins of their magic. To see if there’s any relation to our own history. It’s always been decreed that protectors descend from angels, but no one knows if the angels still really exist or, if they do, whether they come from somewhere different than the hell realm.” Wade pushed his food around his plate. “Either way, they don’t generally share their research with us. It’s all very top secret and I’m not totally convinced that they use the most ethical practices.”

  “Yeah,” Eli added, “I don’t think my dad even knows what’s going on in the basement most of the time. It’s all kept very hush hush.” He paused a beat. “I’ll tell you one thing though, it’s not pleasant to be down there. They often force the cleaning on students who’ve misbehaved.”

  I cringed, not wanting to know what sort of cleaning had to be done in an eerily mysterious lab that used living subjects. My brain instantly went to Dexter levels of gruesome.

  “Why? What’s so bad about being down there?” I shoved my tray away, for once in my life no longer hungry.

  “There’s a lot of dangerous beasts down there that they study. Protectors are generally a fearless bunch, but between the screams from the research and the sheer number of creatures, it’s not really the sort of place you want to camp out for a vacation.” Declan pushed herself away from the table, her tone an unusual mix of anger and boredom. “I should head out. Need to run by the cabin for my bag before training starts.” She turned to me, her lips twitching with the ghost of a smile. “Ro, Max, pleasure. I’ll be seeing you both real soon.”

  “We should probably start walking to the gym, don’t want you two to be late on your first day.” Eli grabbed my tray, taking it towards the garbage station before circling back with a fresh water bottle. “Here, after your pre-morning workout, hydration is key.” With a wink, he and Wade led us back out of the main building and onto the grounds at a slow, leisurely pace.

  “So what exactly does our schedule look like today?” I asked, suddenly aware that I had absolutely no idea what our life here would entail. I was used to sparring for several hours with Ro before burying myself in books and online research. Even though we were homeschooled, we’d learned enough to earn us a bachelor degree. Living in a cabin with no other friends or things to do kind of made learning one of the only ways to have fun.

  Wade smiled and I found myself once again struck by his boyish beauty, something about him seemed both kind and lethal somehow. “Workouts and sparring practice in the mornings. You will both go to some theory-based classes with your age group later. And if it’s decided that private tutoring would be ideal, Arnell and I will tutor you both.”

  “Arnell?” I asked, only paying partial attention. I’d been inconspicuously scanning the faces we passed as we walked through the campus. It took me a moment to realize that I was looking for Cyrus. “Do you know where Cyrus will be while we train and study?”

  “Arnell is from another team. He was from the same year as me.” Wade paused. “I’m a bit younger than the rest of the Alpha Six team.”

  Alpha Six? Was that seriously the kind of naming inspiration this place was bringing for its teams? Boring.

  “How old are you guys anyway?” I asked, immediately feeling Ro’s elbow in my ribs as soon as the question left my mouth. Right, asking someone’s age was rude.

  Eli laughed while I rubbed out what would likely be a bruised rib for the next hour. “I’m twenty-three, Wade’s twenty-one, and Declan and Atlas are both twenty-four. To answer your other question, Cyrus is probably being reintroduced to the campus and grounds this morning and catching up with my dad. A lot has changed since he was last here. And things have been a bit tense here the last few weeks.”