Had I already grown comfortable with my shackles? That thought drove fear inside me. I couldn’t let them win that easily. I needed to hold on to whatever was left of my old life. Didn’t I?
“So, what did you think of your first day?” Javi broke the silence.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened before I could answer him. We filed out and headed toward the back of the building. More and more students milled about. Some dressed to go out and some shuffling around in sweats and yoga pants. Javi seemed to know everybody and we caught the eye of more than one person.
By the time we made it outside to the car, I had met more people than I cared to. Shiloh stayed quiet. Quiet and polite. I didn’t know her that well, but she seemed to be the opposite of Javi, who wouldn’t shut up for more than one second.
“I hope Gloria made her coconut shrimp!” he exclaimed, eyes flashing with excitement.
Shiloh smiled. “With that delicious secret sauce?”
He nodded emphatically. “So good. Rose, get ready to be mind-blown.”
“Over some shrimp?”
“You’ll see.” He waggled his eyebrows, making Shiloh flush.
The drive was quick. Their private beach was right across from the academy itself. Javi pulled up to a small shack. I blinked in surprise. The Beach Shack was literally just that—a shack. Sun stripped wooden boards stood slanted against the sand; the roof caved in and various gaping holes covered the building.
Javi laughed. “Look at her face, Shy.”
I frowned at him. “What about my face?”
“Wait until you see the inside.”
13
My nose scrunched up as I undid my belt and stepped out. We were in the middle of the beach, parked on the sand and there were no other cars.
Was this some kind of joke? I really hoped not, because I was promised mind-blowing shrimp and if Javi didn’t deliver on that, my hangry side would surface.
“It’s warded. The parking lot and the shack too,” Shiloh explained.
I stared at her.
“Invisibility ward. So, the ordinaires can’t see anything… well, all they see is the shack, but it’s warded with rune locks too so they can never get in.”
Javi chuckled. “You should see them trying. Hi-lar-ious.”
“That seems kinds of mean.”
He frowned at me. “So, what, we should tell them all our secrets? They wouldn’t be able to handle the truth.”
“Some might.”
He paused and gave me a frustrated look. I could sense an argument coming.
“Yes, I agree. Some would, but some would not. The last time the ordinaires knew about the extraordinaire well… it led to a war,” Shiloh interrupted.
“How come no one remembers this war?”
Javi scoffed. “Because of the GRIMMs.”
Shiloh frowned at him. “And the extraordinaire. Without them unifying and using their magic, we wouldn’t have been able to perform such a huge spell.”
She turned to me. “The ancient fae created a rift for all the extraordinaire to leave this world to find new homes and those that chose to stay, agreed to the GRIMM laws.”
“And the ones that refused to leave and were determined to destroy us were killed or imprisoned,” Javi added.
“There’s a lot of events that happened that led up to that,” Shiloh agreed.
“And I’m guessing I’ll have to learn all this history?” I groaned. “So unfair. I already learned U.S. history and now I find out it’s all BS. I have to relearn it all!”
Javi opened the door for us, and a waft of warm bread and seafood hit us. My stomach rumbled in anticipation.
A curly haired middle-aged woman glanced up from the bar. “Welcome. Come in and find a seat. Someone will be with you.”
“Thanks. Gloria, you got the coconut shrimp tonight?” Javi shouted over the noise.
The woman grinned. “Of course.”
My eyes widened. The place was huge. Huge and packed. Javi led us past the front tables to a booth in the back. I slid in and glanced around. The shack was spacious with a beachy feel. What you would typically find in a beach restaurant—seashell decorations, a pretty pastel theme, and island music playing.
But there was something else, too. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something felt… different.
“The magic. You feel it?” Shiloh noticed my scrunched-up face.
“I… I don’t know.”
She closed her eyes and lifted her hands up. “I feel it too. Gloria and her staff all have their conduits, so the magic is more concentrated here.”
I gaped at her. “What do they use the magic for?”
“They shouldn’t be using it for anything,” Javi cut in.
Ignoring him, Shiloh looked at me. “Magic can be used legally for all kinds of things as long as it doesn’t endanger or expose an ordinaire. They have a protection spell over the shack, that much I can tell.”
“To keep out the vamps.”
My eyes snapped to Javi. “Vamps as in vampires? Here?”
“Yeah, vampires live everywhere. Even Malibu.”
The words left me feeling shaky. I mean, of course, I knew there had to be more than shifters roaming around, but the idea of blood thirsty Draculas running loose too made me never want to go out in public again.
Someone walked by carrying a tray full of mouthwatering dishes. Fish and fries, fresh salads, and lots and lots of shrimp. Fried, grilled, steamed all varying dishes and smells. When our server came, I ordered the fried shrimp and special sauce they raved about.
As we ate, Javi and Shiloh took turns explaining the basics to me. As much as I appreciated their help, my head pounded, and I had to put an end to the information overload. The rest of the time was spent eating and discussing the latest Netflix binge-worthy shows and movies.
Shiloh, I realized, wasn’t shy or quiet at all. Not once a topic of interest came up. The shrimp was as mind-blowing as they’d promised and by the time we were done, my stomach was too full to handle anything else.
Javi drove
