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  Deadly Truth

  Nobledark Academy Book Two

  Laney Powell

  Copyright © 2020 by Laney Powell

  Deadly Truth

  Nobledark Academy Book Two

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  For all my readers, who make everything possible.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Acknowledgments

  Welcome to the Underworld

  About the Author

  Also by Laney Powell

  Chapter One

  Olivia

  My dreams were full of fire, and darkness, and the ugly red light that I associated with only one person.

  Marbys. My birth father. A demon.

  “You cannot deny who you are,” I heard in my ear. A man’s voice, but I wasn’t sure who it was. “What you are. It will always come out.”

  “No,” I whispered. This would never come out. Not ever, if I had my way. No one would ever know.

  The voice in my ear began to laugh. It wasn’t a ha-ha, isn’t this funny sort of laugh. It was hateful and mocking. Like I had no idea what I was talking about.

  “Stop it,” I said, my voice rising. “Stop it!”

  “Oh, Olivia Karidias, you are such an innocent. But the truth will always come out. And then everyone will know. They will know where you come from. Your only haven will be those like you.”

  Demons. He meant demons. “No,” I said, squaring my shoulders. “I have a choice here.”

  “Do you?” His voice held amusement. “Do you really believe that? No, daughter, you are a demon, and in that, you have no choice at all.” He laughed again, his laughter getting louder until it surrounded me.

  “No! You don’t decide!” I shouted, not bothering to whisper, not caring who heard. “I do!” I raised my hands, planning to send an ice bomb at him. My hot water bomb spell worked well. The ice bomb should work well here.

  Fire shot from my hands, roaring up in a wall of flame that seemed to have its own voice it was so loud.

  The laughter swelled around me, flooding my ears, making it so that I couldn’t think. “Accept what you are,” he said.

  “No,” I yelled. “I will never accept it.”

  “Then burn,” the voice turned cold and hard.

  The darkness closed around me, and I felt myself being pushed back onto my knees, unable to keep my feet. I screamed then, and when I I opened my eyes, I was in my room. It was dark, and except for the fact that my heart felt like it was about to leap out of my chest, there was silence.

  Had I screamed? I waited, listening. I didn’t hear anyone in the pod moving around.

  “Goddess,” I said, tossing the blankets aside. I went to the bathroom to wash my face. I glanced at the mirror as I leaned over the sink.

  There were dark streaks, like I’d been around a fire, across my forehead and one of my cheeks. I looked down at my hands.

  They were black with soot.

  Chapter Two

  Olivia

  What a way to start the week after a very unrestful weekend. I hadn’t slept well at all, and Saturday night, I’d woken up with soot on my hands again. That was the fourth time in the past month. I didn’t remember any dreams outside of this weekend, but one time was more than enough. To be dragged into a special assembly Monday morning was not high on my list.

  I walked into the theater with Jade on one side of me, and surrounded by Silas, Matty, Thalia, and Jake. I heard the wave of whispers as we all went toward the middle of the theater, large enough to hold all the students at Nobledark.

  I was glad we weren’t in the dining hall. The fourth statue that stood outside the doors of the Concilium guy that had tried to kill me, the one that Madame Karathos, the headmistress at our school, called the Lost Russian, creeped me out. The statues had bothered me before—one-on-one side, and two on the other—but knowing that one had recently been Mykhel Sokolov gave me an odd feeling.

  Not that I wasn’t glad he was gone. He’d come at me with a knife when he learned who I was—the daughter of Iliana Karidias, one of the first families of sirens, or, as Silas teased me, one of the siren queens—and he would have killed me if Madame Karathos hadn’t turned him to stone.

  She was part Gorgon, although I would have never guessed it. She could look at people normally, and no one turned to stone. I hadn’t asked her more about it because frankly, it made me a little nervous. But it also made us allies, Madame Karathos and me. We both had a secret. I would bet my best pair of boots no one at the Concilium knew.

  Silas stopped next to a row. “After you, toots,” he said.

  “Shut up,” I said automatically.

  He grinned.

  I filed in, followed by my friends and my guys. Everyone thought we were three couples, which made sense. The fact that Jade already had an established boyfriend threw a wrench in things, but no one had said anything directly out loud. I got it—three girls, three guys. That’s how things went.

  But not for me. As a siren, one of the things that came along with that was the fact that occasionally, sirens had more than one mate. I didn’t know what else to call them. Boyfriends? Sounded weird. But I hadn’t gotten used to ‘mate’ either. My half-sister, Raven (we shared the same father, a piece of crap demon named Marbys who had pursued our respective mothers with a vengeance and a plan) had four boyfriends. And she was completely content with them. But she’d been with her guys for nearly the entire year. This whole life—the siren mom, the demon dad, and multiple romances—I’d only been aware of it all for a couple of months. And the romance side was barely a month old. Raven assured me that I’d get more comfortable with the idea. Not only that, that I’d take strength from and draw from the bond I had with these men. I was waiting for it.

  Silas stepped in front of me and sat down. Jake sat on the other side, his twin brother Matty next to him. Surrounding me, protecting me. They knew everything about me, as did my friends. And they thought I was still in danger.

  I wasn’t so sure. Things had been so quiet lately, outside of the dream this weekend, and my blackened hands. Not one student had tried to snatch me away and drag me to the hellway that resided in the school’s library occasionally. Not even the mean girl who loathed me had bothered me recently. But I worried nonetheless. What had Marbys—because I had to assume it was him—meant when he said I couldn’t deny who I was? I’d done it for nineteen years. Now that I knew, there was nothing that said I had to be out in public with my heritage. I had no plans for going public with anything.

  “Thank you for coming so promptly,” Madame Karathos stepped forward, her voice amplified. She wore a long black dress with a high neck and long sleeves. Her red hair was pinned up, and the effect made her fair skin look even more pale. But she was beautiful. The staff here tended to dress in a mix of what you’d think a witch or wizard looked like and regular human clothing. Madame Kar
athos leaned more on the side of the traditional witch. If I had her hair and skin, I would too.

  Madame Karathos smiled out at all the students. It wasn’t a real smile, I noticed. “I am sorry to disturb your classes, but the members of the Concilium have asked to speak with you. Please welcome Councilor Dandros,” She looked around and nodded, and then stepped back.

  One of the men in the group that stood with her on the stage, a tall, thin man with dark hair and a tan complexion, dressed all in black, came to the front. “Thank you, Madame Karathos,” he said. “And thank you to all of you. As you know, Nobledark represents the best and the brightest of our world, dedicated to the principles of keeping all our kind safe, and making sure that none of our fellow supernaturals jeopardize that.”

  His words were similar to what I’d heard when I’d first come here, at the beginning of the year. But now, they held menace that I hadn’t heard previously. One of the Concilium trying to kill you for being the wrong kind of supernatural might have that effect.

  “We do our best to shield all our academies and institutes of learning from the outside world,” Dandros continued. “I’m here because we feel it’s not prudent to do so any longer with the students here. Given that many of you will find a home in the Concilium once you finish your studies, we feel we can speak with you honestly.” He gave the silent auditorium a perfunctory smile.

  “There have been two instances of demon fire attacking the school from within. That much, I think you all know, correct?” He looked around.

  There was a murmur from the crowd.

  I’d seen both of the results of those fires. One had been in the library, which also housed the hellway—when the hellway chose to appear. There didn’t seem to be any reason as to why it showed up when it did. I wondered if the people on the stage knew that. They had to, right? Goddess, I hoped so, even as it might cause me problems.

  “Students have gone missing, only to return with no knowledge or memory of where they’d been, and when we sent one of our investigators, Councilor Sokolov, he, too, disappeared. Additionally, there have been outbursts of fire that seemed to be brimstone around the edges of the school grounds,” Dandros continued.

  I worked hard to keep my face still while I went cold and still inside. I knew exactly what had happened to Sokolov. What I wanted to know was whether I had anything to do with the brimstone fires. I remembered the smell of brimstone—there was no mistaking it.

  On either side of me, I felt both Jake and Silas slip a hand into mine. We all knew about Sokolov. I didn’t look at anyone I sat with. I didn’t want to give anything away.

  Which made me look more closely at the people on stage. Most were men, with a few women. None of them were Councilor Tennyson, who had come to investigate me last month at the urging of her daughter, Wendi Tennyson. I was glad to see Councilor Tennyson missing from the group. The less I saw of either of those two, the better. Wendi had stolen from me and tried to set me up for an interrogation from the Concilium. I couldn’t believe Wendi was still at school. But she must have been under heavy pressure from her mom—when we passed each other in the halls, she pretended I wasn’t there. Which was fine with me.

  “We have decided to tell you what we know and ask for your help. If you know something, you need to come forward. Here are the facts,” Dandros said, and I heard his belief in his conviction that what he was doing was right.

  He was targeting students, even if he didn’t realize it. I tuned him out. Anything he knew, I already knew. I just hoped I didn’t look guilty as hell.

  “They’re laying it on thick,” Jake whispered next to me.

  “Already heard from Dad,” Matty replied. “Checking in, he said.”

  I made a note to ask them about it when we got out of here. Generally, one of the guys stayed with me at night until they had to go back to their rooms. It had been really nice, getting to know all three of them better. They were all so different, but there was a common theme running through them. It wasn’t just me, and that made me happy. They were strong, they had strong feelings about everything, and once they made a decision, all three of them were on board.

  All of which was good for me.

  The best thing, in my book, was that they all got along. I loved that. They liked each other. Of course, Matty and Jake were twins, which had led to some interesting mistakes regarding identity on my part earlier. I’d figured out how to tell them apart now, thankfully. Silas, who was a wolf shifter, hadn’t really known them well. And the brothers weren’t initially keen on sharing a girlfriend.

  Somehow, without me managing it, they found a way to get along. I thanked the goddess, because I didn’t want to see the three men I cared about fighting.

  Which made me think about someone else. I glanced around, seeking the bright blond head of Caspian Silverwood. He was fae, and while he and I had a few… encounters that left both of us breathless, we weren’t together. I didn’t know if he wanted to be. I was drawn to him like I was drawn to the other three, but he had to be willing to be with me.

  Given our encounters at this point, all indications pointed to ‘not going to happen’.

  I found him sitting with a small group of fae students. They all had striking long hair, both the guys and the girls. Every single fae I’d ever seen was equally good-looking. Caspian didn’t look around.

  I sighed and listened with half an ear to Councilor Dandros. He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t know, unfortunately. I knew more about all the mysterious goings on than anyone on that stage, other than Madame Karathos. I wasn’t going to be telling the Concilium anything, regardless of their pleas for cooperation. I also noted that nothing was mentioned about the hellway. Which didn’t seem wise.

  It was strange. My whole life, Nobledark Academy was where I wanted to be. Work for our society, find the people within in who were planning to do shady things, and stop them. That was the premise of Nobledark. Pretty simple, right? Until I learned that this school, and the Concilium, and basically my entire world wasn’t what I thought it was.

  As a half-siren, half-demon, I should not even be here. Sirens were what we called Underworlders, supernatural creatures that existed by harming others. Usually humans. While we had plenty of places where humans didn’t venture, we all had to exist side by side with the human world. Underworlders, so the theory went, didn’t play by those rules, and therefore, had to be monitored and stopped when they decided to step out of line.

  Except… I was an Underworlder. Madame Karathos, as a Gorgon, was an Underworlder. My sister, Raven—Underworlder. All the guys she loved—Underworlders. From what she told me, they were all good guys. To add to that, my friends and my mates didn’t seem as bothered as I was.

  The Concilium, however, seemed very much bothered.

  Councilor Dandros was finishing up. “I will appreciate it if you are called in for questions, you respond promptly. No one is under any sort of suspicion. We are merely trying to protect the school, and all those here.” He smiled, but even from out here in the audience, I could see that it didn’t reach his eyes.

  “Right,” I heard Matty mutter. “Totally sincere.”

  Madame Karathos stepped forward. “Thank you to everyone for your consideration. The Councilors will be with us for a time, and I ask that you show them every courtesy.” She smiled, and while nothing about this felt great, Madame Karathos herself made me feel better. “Thank you for your time. You’re free to go to lunch and continue with the rest of your day.” She nodded and stepped away from the edge of the stage.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Caspian, along with his fae classmates, get up. Why did I care about him when he was so obviously conflicted? I had three of the best guys I’d ever met committed to whatever this was with me. They liked each other and got along.

  Why add another to the mix?

  Logically, my internal debate made sense. But I still watched Caspian Silverwood, fae and pain in my ass, leave. I felt a sense of loss when I looked a
t him.

  “Thankfully, that wasn’t that long,” Jade said, walking next to me. “I’m starving.”

  “Things are getting weird,” Thalia said from the other side of Jade.

  “I wonder who disappeared,” Matty said. “I didn’t notice anyone.”

  “Like you would,” Jake teased him, punching him lightly on the shoulder.

  I felt a brush of a hand on my neck, under my hair. Silas was behind me, and his touch calmed me. Was this what Raven meant with the idea that the bond would make me stronger? Make all of us stronger?

  We walked into the dining hall, with me studiously ignoring the four statues that flanked either side of the hall’s doors. No one else knew, but I knew what they were. Guys who had pissed off Madame Karathos. There was a lot of justice in at least one of them, but they were still kind of creepy.

  When we sat down to lunch—the guys ate with me during lunch, but dinner was always up in the air, given the fact that all three of them played rugby, and they were smack in the middle of the season. Jade had teased me because her boyfriend Levi didn’t eat with us, but I noticed that over the past couple of weeks, he’d been changing that. Jade showed no signs of minding, and she wasn’t one to hold back.

  As if on cue, Levi came over, sliding an arm around Jade’s waist as he sat down. Silas reached across the table to clasp hands with him—which surprised me. I hadn’t known they were close at all. Matty and Jake both greeted him in a friendly fashion.

  There was still a lot that we—my guys and me—didn’t know about each other. I smiled. The getting to know one another was part of the fun. In all the ways, I thought as I remembered Silas’ staying late with me last night. My cheeks pinked at the memory, and Silas looked at me then. He was still for a moment, and then a slow smile spread across his face.