Free Paranormal Public (Paranormal Public Series) by Maddy Edwards

what I had meant to discuss today. I simply wanted to give those of you who are dumber than wood an overview of what you will be up against. You will be expected to train hard, to learn your talents and specialties (assuming you each have one), and to learn them to perfection. Anything less could prove fatal.”
    “Now,” he said, stepping around his desk so that he could pace back and forth in front of us, “the demons have two classes, the Upper and the Lower. The hellhounds are loyal to both, but of course the wishes of the Upper take precedence.”
    I was busy scribbling this down madly when Professor Zervos said, “Here is an image of what a hellhound commonly looks like.” I finished writing and popped my head up to see the picture displayed across a large board at the front of the room. My eyes locked on the picture and I let out a loud scream.
    Instantly the room went silent. Lisabelle reached over and clapped her hand over my mouth, whispering “Don’t be pathetic” in my ear.
    Lisabelle smelled of wet wood and warm nights, and somehow it calmed me enough so that I tried to take a breath, but her hand was still covering my mouth. I pulled it away and sucked air into my deprived lungs, but I could feel waves of panic racing over me and I tried to get them under control.
    When I finally looked at Professor Zervos, I saw that he was beside himself with rage. His eyes were bulging out of his head and his face was turning a bright red color.
    He pointed an imperious finger towards the door. “Out,” he intoned. “Now.” At least he didn’t slam me into a wall.
    My face bright with shame, I gathered my things. Professor Zervos slammed the door open for me and I scurried through it and out into the hall.
    “If I have anything to say about it,” said Professor Zervos before he closed the door in my face, “you will never attend another day of classes at this school.”
    I felt the whoosh of displaced air as he closed the door in my face and left me standing alone. Once he was gone I sank against the wall and stared at the floor. The picture Professor Zervos had shown me was of the dog that had been following me for the last few days I’d been at home. Only Professor Zervos had called it a hellhound, not a dog. But that didn’t make any sense. I remembered the mist and my fear, I remembered feeling as if I was being followed, but I had never thought that it was anything paranormal. I had just thought that it was a stray dog that had taken a liking to following me around at night. Now I saw that my mother’s warnings of danger hadn’t all been crazy talk. Apparently everything my mother had told me was true.
    I wished she were around to help me. If she hadn’t died I wouldn’t be at this school without a clue about what was going on. But she was gone, and I had to figure it out on my own.
    Zervos’s class would be letting out soon, and I still had a full schedule of lessons for the rest of the evening. It was an odd schedule and one that would take some getting used to, but at the moment all I wanted to do was get through the rest of the day. Given how Zervos’s class had just gone I was pretty sure it was going to be a challenge.
    But the rest of the day didn’t go as badly as I had expected. The other professors were pleasant enough and not one of them mentioned that I didn’t know my paranormal specialty and was on probation.
    Still, by the end of the day I was exhausted.
     
    At dinner that night I sat down next to Sip, who I hadn’t had one class with all through the second half of the day. I was mortified when Lisabelle joined us and, before I could say a word to Sip myself, gave her a detailed recap of my screaming in the middle of class, everyone else’s shock, and Zervos throwing me out.
    Sip covered her mouth as she listened. “I can’t believe you screamed,” she said.
    “Yeah, well, I did,” I said dejectedly. “And Zervos will probably get me kicked out for sure now.”
    “He