“Don’t apologize for being true to your animal, little dragon,” The bell for the end of lunch rang. Drew stood and dusted off his pants. “We meet every night. Same time, same place. This journey we are on is hard. It doesn’t have to be lonely. I hope you come back.” He walked off and faded into the rest of the students that emerged from the cafeteria heading to their next class.
Midnight found me sneaking out of the dorm again. I was annoyed at myself for even bothering, but I couldn’t resist the siren song of getting the chance to talk about being immortal. I told myself I was going because I wanted to give Immortal’s Club another chance, not because Drew had told me he wanted me to. I was not some air headed schoolgirl who made decisions because a boy she liked smiled at her. At least, I didn’t think I was.
Sneaking out this time was as easy as the last. I could see as clear as daytime and I could hear every little noise around me. I made it to the pond right at midnight. Drew was waiting for me.
“I was hoping you’d come,” he said. He was dressed in tight jeans and an even tighter black t-shirt. His wings were translucent in the light of stars. The butterflies in my stomach started acting up again.
“Yeah—uh, figured I might as well check it out. What do we do now?”
“Follow me and I’ll show you.” I followed him past the pond to a grove of trees. We walked until we were in front of a large tree in the middle.
“Put your hand on the trunk,” Drew said. The trunk lit up underneath my hand. Strings of light fanned out across the dark brown bark until an outline of a door appeared. The light disappeared, but the door remained. I gave it a push, and it swung inward silently. There was nothing but blackness beyond.
“Only an immortal can open the doorway. Welcome to the Club,” Drew said behind me. I turned to look over my shoulder and he nodded at me. We stepped inside.
As soon as Drew and I were both in the door to the tree shut behind us. Drew’s muscular body pressed up against my back. The heat from his breath warmed the back of my neck. It was wonderful and completely terrifying. I was too nervous to even breathe.
After a minute, the surrounding area lit up. We were in some sort of entryway. The walls were rounded like the trunk of a tree, but it was much larger than the tree was outside. The room had the look of an old English estate with lush carpet and dark walls. Ahead of us, a hallway curved to the left. I heard voices, but the wall curved out of sight. Drew scooted around me and made his way down the hall.
“You coming?” he called over his shoulder. Around the curve the tree opened up even more. We entered a large room where all the members of the Immortal’s Club—minus the black cloaks—were gathered. Penelope stood up from a couch as we approached.
“Sophie, I’m so glad you’ve decided to return.” I could see everyone now. Besides Penelope, Kylee, and Drew, there was Charlie the vampire, Margaret from shifting class, and four more students I hadn’t met before. Penelope draped her arm around my shoulder and walked me around introducing me to everyone and telling me their animal. I shook everyone’s hand and tried to commit all their names and animals to memory.
“I had no idea there were so many immortals here at the Academy.” Everyone sat down and I picked a place at the end of a couch. To my surprise, Drew came and sat down next to me.
“There are more now than there have been here at the school in ages. I’ve heard there were only a couple in our parent’s generation.”
“Guess that just means we are more powerful than our parents,” Penelope said.
“So, what do you guys do here every night?” I asked.
“Oh, this and that.” Drew leaned back and draped his arm along the back of the couch. The back of my neck grew hot again. He was just relaxing, not putting his arm around me, I tried to convince myself silently.
“We mostly hang out. Practice our shifting and practice magic. Talk about what it’s going to be like being immortal.”
“Did you know you might be immortal?” Robert asked.
“Me?” I asked. “Definitely not. My dad never mentioned he was. If he had, it would’ve been to Simon, my twin brother. Dad always believed he would be the next dragon. Truth be told, even when I was revealed as an animage and Simon wasn’t, I never even considered I would be a dragon.”
“How do you feel about knowing?” Drew asked.
“You know,” I said slowly, considering the question. “I’m not entirely sure. It’s kind of scary thinking about living forever. Also isolating. It’s hard carrying around this big secret and keeping it from your family and friends. Dad told me I wasn’t even allowed to tell Simon, and he’s my twin.”
Drew patted me on the knee, “Most of us felt that way at first. Until we found out about the club, that is. Now you don’t have to be alone. For better or worse, we are all in this together.”
Chapter Eight
With October came a chill that never left the air. Hudson, Gracie, Willa, and I were marching across campus, late for breakfast one morning.
“Sophie, quit tugging at your tights, they’re going to rip,” Gracie told me as I stopped to twist them around my leg one more time.
“I can’t help it; they’re driving me crazy. Who even wears tights anymore? Where do I file an official complaint? Just give us pants already.”
“You can wear my pants; I’ll wear tights and a skirt every day.” Hudson’s comment got a laugh out of Gracie and Willa, but I just glared at him.
