Free A Shadow's Tale by Jennifer Hanlon Page B

had been written, but it was the species that caught my eye. Demon/Angel. I took out the note that had been attached to the timetable.
    Angel is the closest thing we have to your ‘Synari’. Enjoy!
    I was the same as Jamie! That thought made my heart swell up in joy. A passing girl raised an eyebrow at me. I quickly quietened down my emotions. I had to remember that I wasn’t the only empath here any more. And an even more sobering thought: I couldn’t let anyone get close to me. Not with Karthragan still out to get me. I could sense him searching, seeking, hunting me. Putting someone else in the line of fire between him and me was not going to happen. Not ever. I was going to have to live a solitary life until I was sure I could defeat him on my own. I wouldn’t put anyone else in that kind of danger ever again.
    The Academy encompassed both junior and senior school, all seven years. I had been put into the third year. Classes started at nine o’clock and finished at five to give us plenty of time to relax and eat before the night students came out to play. According to the rules, day students are allowed to mix with the night, but for our own safety, it was better not to. Student knowledge was that some of the vampires in the night class weren’t really in control of their blood lust. I didn’t care. I spent most evenings in the library, researching every single thing I could for my school work. I desperately wanted to succeed here. I also wanted to avoid Jamie, and the library was one of the rare places he wouldn’t venture into unless he had no other choice.
    I managed to keep this up for a month before Jamie started to follow me even in the library. He and an orange haired girl about the same age. She was the reason I knew Jamie was following me. She just couldn’t keep her mouth shut. I soon learned that her name was Holly, a hurricane on a sugar-high in human form. Inthe silence of the library, I could hear her comments all too loudly, and it seemed to annoy the other half demon.
    She came to me once, in the canteen, sitting next to me as if we were friends. I edged away as she attacked her food like a starved bear. She started to speak, a never-ending stream of questions while shovelling rice into her mouth. I gaped at her, trying to keep up as she asked me about every single personal detail under the sun, from name to favourite colour to species to family. Strangely enough, despite rocky beginnings and personalities that were so far apart they were polar opposites, she became one of my best friends. A friend I will always hold dearly in my heart.
    Holly introduced me to Natalie, who she affectionately referred to as her ‘smarter’ half. Both were sorceresses who used wands to channel their energy. They were blissfully unaware of exactly what I was. I, for my part, was perfectly happy to let them continue on in their delusion that I was completely human, like them, just a sorceress on a different level. Only Jamie knew, but he kept it as a secret. He regularly hung out with us, getting up to the same shenanigans. I was glad he did. It saved several awkward questions, but ultimately, it would lead to their downfall four years later, but, for now, they were my best friends.
    Holly was a prankster. Thankfully, Natalie warned me about this early on, so I was always on the lookout for her tricks. Of course, this doesn’t mean I didn’t get caught out from time to time, but hey, she could have done a lot worse to me than adding Tabasco to my food. To her credit through, it was hard to keep a straight face around her. We stuck together like glue, the three of us. Even though she was deathly terrified of horses, she came to watch Natalie and me in our weekly pegasus class. Natalie stood next to Merlas and I on a pretty brown pegasus she had fallen for as we waited for the teacher to arrive. Holly leant on the fence, waving at us. Nat and I grinned, waving back. The