“It’s like college… for GRIMMs,” Shiloh added.
Dread unfurled inside me. So, what, that was four more years of monster hunting school? I couldn’t respond. I wanted to march to my tío’s office and rage at him, but what good would that do?
It didn’t matter. I was going to find a way to escape.
“Are you okay?” Shiloh’s gentle voice snapped me to attention.
Steeling myself, I nodded. “Fine. I’m fine. Thanks for the card.” I turned to Molly.
She stared at me as she handed me the blank card. “Sure. If you need anything just text me. I have class later, but I’m free at lunch.”
I thanked her again and walked out of the office with all the dignity I could muster. Shiloh followed me. We fell quiet in the hall.
“This is probably a lot for you. Coming from a different school. But I’ll show you everything you need to know. And Molly will look out for you too. She’s super nice and her girlfriend too. Kressa. She’s one of the weapons training assistants. Amazing archer.”
“They’re going to teach us archery here?”
Shiloh smiled. “They teach us every weapon, but you get to choose your own specialty.”
Nausea rolled inside me. Specialty? Like which weapon you preferred to kill monsters with? I fought the urge to shudder. I didn’t want to chase creatures like Manny for the rest of my life.
Misjudging my silence for worry, Shiloh waved her hand as if waving off her words. “But that’s not until the end of the year. Or when you turn eighteen. You’re seventeen now?”
I nodded. There, an easy question I could answer.
“Me too.” She flashed me a smile.
I was beginning to see why my cousin was crushing on her. She was genuine. Someone you could actually be friends with. But I couldn’t afford to do that now and with my tío’s cursed bracelet, I could never be honest with her or anyone there about who I really was.
“Let me show you our house and then we can grab a coffee before your first class? What class do you have first?”
I pulled out the tablet and shook my head. “I don’t know. This thing isn’t working.”
She peered over at the loading screen. “Here. Let me turn it off and back on. Sometimes these things are a little wonky.”
Or the user was me—tech illiterate. I was cursed when it came to technology.
“Thanks.” I handed it to her and watched her work her magic.
“This one is for your classes.” She pointed to a floating blue icon with a black graduate cap in the middle.
My nose crinkled. “I would never have found that.”
She laughed. “I know. This system is weird. We’ve been asking the school board to update the design forever, but they always turn us down.”
I tapped on the icon and watched as a list of class numbers appeared:
Class 100: The Origin of the O.G. was the first one written down.
My eyes scrolled down the list, head spinning. Half of the classes, I didn’t even know what they were.
“Oh my gosh! You have a huge course load. Freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior classes all together? That’s insane.”
I glanced at her. “How can you tell?”
Her finger hovered near one class. “That’s a freshman class. All the level 100s are freshman. But they’re super easy. You’ll get through those in no time. And if you ask them, I’m sure they will put you on the online courses so you can go at an accelerated pace.” She beamed as if this was the best news ever.
“I need coffee,” I muttered.
She gave me a sympathetic smile. “Of course. Let’s get you that coffee.”
We made our way back down the hall, our footsteps echoing loudly. House Dragon was like a college sorority house for the insanely wealthy or five-star bed-and-breakfast for celebrities.
My mind boggled as Shiloh listed out all the house features. A gourmet kitchen and small dining room on all six floors. Each floor from the second story up housed all the students, beginning with us seniors. A two-story game and entertainment room, various bathrooms complete with full showers, two exercise rooms, five different lounge rooms, and a giant movie theater right in the house. Not to mention the outside luxury pool and jacuzzi.
The sheer expenses the school must incur were mind boggling. How were these people so filthy rich? Where did all the money come from? Though I’d always been well off myself, I’d seen enough crime documentaries to suspect something shady.
“Let’s take the elevator.” She led me to a wide lobby.
I glanced around at the décor. Once again, I felt like I was in some old English house owned by some stodgy lord or duke who had an affinity for dragons. They were everywhere. Hidden in the furniture and architecture and in plain sight as beautifully carved statues.
A soft bell announced the arrival of the elevator. I followed her in and made space as another student boarded with us. The girl eyed me with interest, her eyes snagging on my nose ring, leather jacket, and boots.
I met her stare dead on. Was she going to say something? I bit my tongue to keep a snarky comment from escaping. There was no need to make enemies my first day. It was better to go unnoticed so that I could make my plan of getting away. I glanced down at my choice of fashion.
Maybe it was too late for that. I never blended in well at my old school and with the stuffy uniforms here, I stuck out even more.
Before I could tell the girl, it was rude to stare, the elevator stopped, and she got off without a glance back.
Shiloh led me to one of the main lounges on the second floor where a coffee bar stood. My eyebrows shot up. A coffee bar? I was in heaven. I poured myself a cup and stirred in some sugar.
“Better?”
