Bound, p.1
Bound, page 1
part #6 of Destine Academy Series
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Other Books By Sara Snow
Guide to the Destine Academy Factions
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
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About the Author
Bound Playlist
Destine Academy: Bound
Book 6 of the Destine Academy Series
Sara Snow
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 Sara Snow– All rights Reserved All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication / use of the trademarks is not authorized, associated with or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Other Books By Sara Snow
Destine Academy Series (Available on Amazon)
Destine Academy (Book 1)
Destine Academy: The Return (Book 2)
Destine Academy: Secrets (Book 3)
Destine Academy: Prophecy (Book 4)
Destine Academy: Changes (Book 5)
Destine Academy Boxed Set (Books 1-5)
Destine Academy:Bound (Book 6)
Guide to the Destine Academy Factions
Magique
Abilities: The magical students. Alchemists, occultists, herbalists—there’s many branches of magic they can—and do—specialize in.
Symbol: Green line running diagonally from left to right and a green orb in the center of it, labeled with the word Magiques.
Head Girl: Nadine Landry
Head Boy: Aldrick Vieux
Metamorphe
Abilities: Shifters with the ability to shift into anyone.
Symbol: Yellow orb with four lines diagonally surrounding, but not touching it. Labeled with the word Metamorphe.
Head Girl: Tilda Richelieu
Head Boy: Laurent Voclain
Surnatural
Abilities: Preternaturals—students possessing superhuman powers such as strength, speed, and many other talents.
Symbol: Red line running horizontally from left to right with a read orb in the center of it, labeled with the word Surnatural.
Head Girl: Lisette Proulx
Head Boy: Corbin Chevalier
Voyante
Abilities: Oracles—seers, if you will. They can see your thoughts.
Symbol: Blue line running vertically from top to bottom and a blue orb in the center of it, labeled with the word Voyante.
Head Girl: Fleur Toussaint
Head Boy: Talbot Marchel
Chapter One
Caroline walked along the corridor from her room towards the lecture hall, where the school was congregating for the headmistress’ opening address for the new school year. As she walked, Caroline kept her head held eye, her eyes straight ahead. She could feel the glances and stares of the other students as they passed her, and while she didn’t think she’d ever get used to feeling like the school freak, Nadine and Tilda had spent endless hours over the holidays teaching her magical ways to cope with it. They’d taught her to create and maintain shields and wield powerful psychic protections that, aside from being effective, helped Caroline to feel empowered when she had no control over her life. She’d welcomed the distraction of their rigorous training; it took the edge off how much she missed her family. Caroline was sad not having a home to return to for break like so many of the other students did.
The past eight weeks had flown by, yet at the same time, they felt like a lifetime. She didn’t feel anything like the girl who’d first come to the academy, lost, insecure, and scared. Now she was confident. Powerful. Comfortable in her purpose—to find Tempeste and find her mother and brother—and if it meant taking her aunt down in the meantime, then so be it.
As Caroline walked, she thought back to the night she’d unlocked the fourth key and found herself staring at her mother in the mirror. Once she’d gotten over the shock of morphing into her mom, Tilda had talked her through disassembling the experience to see what she could learn from it. An interesting by-product of morphing into someone else was that you got a mental snapshot of what their thoughts were during the period of the morph. It felt wrong at first, delving into her mother's mind and intruding on her thoughts, but Tilda had explained it might be the only way to get any clues as to where she was and what had happened to her and Caroline’s brother. It hadn’t taken long for her to hit a land mine.
As Caroline walked on, she let her mind wander to that day.
“I can’t see anything,” Caroline said, her eyes shut tight while she leaned back against the pillows on her bed and tried to relax.
“Just give it some time,” Tilda instructed. “You can’t force it. Think back to how you felt when you morphed into your mom and tell me what you can see.”
“It’s just dark like it normally is when you close your eyes,” Caroline replied dryly. Tilda ignored her, but Caroline could feel her friend settling against the pillows beside her. They sat like that for a few minutes, Caroline doing her best to focus but finding it difficult to keep her thoughts from wandering.
“This feels weird. How do I know if I’m focusing on my own thoughts or the thoughts of my mom?” Caroline asked with a sigh.
“Stop overthinking it for starters,” Tilda instructed. “Just let yourself relax into the pillows and clear your mind. Tell yourself it’s your mom’s thoughts you want to see.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. How can I keep my mind clear and think about that at the same time? It’s not possible,” Caroline huffed.
Tilda chuckled softly, “It actually is possible. You’re just not used to working with two sets of memories yet. It takes practice to wrap your head around it.”
“Time is what we don’t have,” Caroline said.
“Just clear your mind and start again. We’ll get there.”
Caroline inhaled deeply and held it for the count of three before slowly releasing it. She stared at the blackness of her inner eyelids and tried to keep her own thoughts as clear as possible.
“Whoa…” she whispered and instantly felt Tilda shift beside her.
“Careful. Don’t lose hold of them,” Tilda whispered.
In the darkness, smoky white cloudss had started to form, and as Caroline watched, they swirled and moved like each one was a tiny portal.
“Describe what you see,” Tilda instructed, and Caroline told her. “Good, that sounds about right. I want you to slowly move them within your mind like it’s a slideshow or something until you see one that looks a little different than the rest. That’s the one you want.”
Caroline did her best to follow Tilda’s instructions, but it made her feel dizzy, and she was grateful she wasn’t standing. Suddenly, one of the forms started to expand, changing from white to hues of green as it did. Caroline gasped.
“Good, keep on it,” Tilda said, knowing what Caroline was experiencing. Caroline watched as the colored smoke filled her vision, and an image started to come forward. A rushing sound filled her ears, and she suddenly felt like she was speeding through a tunnel before the sensation stopped as suddenly as it started. Caroline found she was no longer looking at an image forming, but it was like she was there in the image. Looking around, she could see she was in the family room of her home—the proper version, where she was actually in the photos with her family. Looking down at her hands, she realized she was once again her mom—only this time, it didn’t scare her. It made sense since she was in her memories, after all.
Her mother walked over to the couch, where a book waited for her on the coffee table next to a fresh cup of tea. Just as her mother sat down, the doorbell rang. Abandoning her book and tea,, she walked out of the family room and opened the front door.
Caroline gasped as the door opened, and she saw who was standing there. She flung her arm out to grab a hold of Tilda.
“It’s okay. You’re okay, just hold onto the memory and see it through to the end,” Tilda said, and Caroline swallowed thickly and forced herself to focus back on her mother’s memory.
“Samantha. It’s been a while,” said the woman at the door.
Caroline could feel her mother’s surprise—it was as intense as her own.
“Marguerite. What are you doing here?” her mother asked.
“We need to talk. May I come in?”
Caroline’s mother stepped aside as the headmistress—Caroline’s aunt—stepped inside. Caroline could hear the rapid-fire thoughts that ran through her mother’s mind.
What is she doing here? She promised to stay away. Why is she here? Now? Samantha asked herself.
Samantha Destine escorted her sister-in-law to the family room, her cup of tea and book all but forgotten. Marguerite sat in the single armchair while Samantha sat on the couch, intentionally not offering Marguerite anything to drink—she didn’t want her to stay any longer than she had to stay. She remained silent as she watched Marguerite examine the fam
“I see the children have grown-up well. Justin looks like his father,” Marguerite stated.
“Are you going to tell me what you’re doing here? We haven’t seen or heard from you in almost ten years.”
Marguerite nodded, “Yes, at Gaspar’s funeral.”
“So, what are you doing here?” Samantha grew impatient as she looked up at the clock. It would not be long before the kids finished school, and the last thing she wanted was for them to come home and find their aunt sitting in the living room. That was not an explanation she wanted to give.
Marguerite cleared her throat. “Caroline turns sixteen soon, does she not?”
“You know she does.”
“I’m sure Gaspar discussed our plans for her once she came of age,” Marguerite stated as she nonchalantly inspected her fingernails.
“Your plans? Excuse me. She’s my daughter, not yours.”
“Caroline is a Destine, and with that comes certain expectations. One of which is to attend Destine Academy, where she can reach her full potential…”
“My daughter can reach her potential just fine right here with her family,” Samantha cut in.
“No, she can’t. You know full well, she can’t. Not if she’s to become…”
“Become a normal, well-functioning, happy member of society?” Samantha cut in a second time.
“Why would you want a mediocre life for her in the common world, when she can be so much more?”
“Caroline is happy here. This is the life she knows. Is it not enough that her father was taken from her because of your world, now you want to take away the only life she knows as well? And for what? To serve your own ego so you can show off your niece at the academy?”
“The academy is where she is meant to be. I’ve respected my brother’s wishes that she be allowed to remain in your world and attend the common school until such time that she turned sixteen. The plan was always that she would then attend Destine Academy.”
“I couldn’t care less about what plans you think you had with my husband. He’s not here anymore, is he? And who’s fault is that? Caroline is my daughter. Mine. And she stays here with me. End of story. Now, I want you to leave and continue to do the best thing you can possibly do for my daughter—stay away.”
Marguerite rose slowly from her chair, patting her hair to makes sure it was still in place as she did. With graceful, quiet steps, she walked to where Samantha remained seated on the couch.
“Don’t say you haven’t been warned, Samantha. I’ll show myself out.”
Chapter Two
Caroline stepped through the doors of the east entry to the auditorium and scanned the crowd.
“Caroline, over here!” She looked over to where Nadine was waving at her from the Magicks section. Despite unlocking keys for all four factions, it felt natural to Caroline to sit with Nadine and the Magicks when school activities called for the division. It had been her first key, after all. Plus, Nadine had become her best friend in the crazy world of Destine Academy, and Caroline would have felt lost without her.
As she walked over to where Nadine had saved her a seat, Caroline found herself thinking about her best friend from her old school, Felicity. She hated that she was to have no contact with her old life, her old friends, and she wondered if Felicity missed her and what she was doing.
“Nadine! I didn’t expect to see you here now. You’re not an actual student anymore.” Caroline called out.
Nadine grinned, “Well, as your Magicks’ tutor, I thought it prudent to attend. Though I was starting to think you’d overslept.” Nadine said as Caroline side-stepped along the row towards her friend.
“Sorry, in a bit of a funk this morning.” She explained as she sat down.
“Everything okay?” Nadine asked.
Caroline shrugged. “It just feels weird, you know? I was thinking about the holidays when Tilda helped me look into mom’s memories. It still makes me so mad, and I just wish I could confront my aunt. I know she had something to do with my family’s disappearance.”
“Well, yes and no. We know she threatened your mother, but…”
“Really? You don’t honestly think she’s innocent in all of thi, do you?” Caroline cut in.
“Well, no. But I am trying to play the devil's advocate. Like I said all holidays, we can’t really approach her about it until we have some hard evidence. Your aunt is cunning, Caroline, among other things. We have to be careful.”
Caroline sighed as she settled into her seat. “I know. You’re right. It just makes me so angry. It’s like she’s been toying with my family all these years. I want to know why.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of it. We just have to be smart about it.” Nadine squeezed her arm as the lights dimmed, and a hush fell over the students. A single light illuminated the podium in the center of the stage, and the only sound was the click-clacking of her aunt’s high heels as she walked across the stage and took her place in front of the microphone.
“Good morning, students. For those new to Destine Academy this year, I am Madam Marguerite Destine, headmistress of the school. As you are all aware, we’re entering a perilous time within the magical community with the discovery that our old foe, Tempeste Barrere, and her cult, The Entiere, are again on the rise. Rest assured, Destine Academy is the safest place you can be right now, and regardless of what rumors fly around the school, neither Tempeste nor her cronies have been seen within in the school grounds. Nor will they be.”
Caroline and Nadine exchanged a quick look as the headmistress continued.
“We will keep you informed, but as it stands, we still consider The Entiere as a low-level threat; however, we are remaining vigilant should that change.”
Caroline found herself rolling her eyes. Her aunt looked up into the crowd of students, and even though Caroline knew she couldn’t see her, she found herself shrinking into her seat all the same.
“Now, on a brighter note, with the new school year comes the naming of the new faction heads. I would like to call upon last year's top of the class and exiting head student for the Magicks faction, Aldrick Vieux, to join me.”
There was an eruption of cheers and applause as Aldrick strode out onto the stage, and Caroline’s heart felt like it was somersaulting in her chest at the sight of him. Instead of his school uniform that she’d become accustomed to seeing him wearing, he now wore a pair of smart-looking slacks and a black knit sweater. It made him look so much more grown-up, and Caroline found herself feeling every bit the two years younger sitting there in her uniform. She felt Nadine nudge her, but she ignored it, knowing her feelings were written all over her face.
Aldrick stood next to the headmistress and held up the box of school pins. Caroline felt a little sad about watching the new wave of faction heads get named. Her closest friends had filled those roles only a few short months ago. Though she felt grateful that she’d only had to say goodbye to two of them. Lisette had been drafted by the Surnaturals’ All-Stars Squad, and Talbot had won a prestigious internship with an elite, yet secretive, Voyante association. Aldrick was staying on as a teacher’s aide while he worked on his own professorship—despite being smarter than most of the teachers at the academy, and it made Caroline happy to know he would still be around the school, even if he’d pretty much avoided her ever since their kiss. Laurent was also staying at the academy, though Caroline still didn’t really understand what his new role was. He traveled a lot, and it seemed to be some kind of diplomatic position or possibly recruitment. Caroline hadn’t worked out whether it was a secretive position or whether Laurent was intentionally vague to make it seem so intriguing.
The most interesting change was Caroline’s schooling. With her unlocking all four keys, her aunt was adamant she was well-educated in each faction, which meant Caroline would have to work harder than anyone in the history of the academy. The silver lining was the headmistress’ decision not to overload her present teaching staff and to decide to hire the remaining faction heads as tutors to make sure Caroline learned everything she needed to learn. Nadine would be her Magicks’ tutor, Fleur for the Voyantes, Tilda for the Metamorphes…and Corbin for the Surnaturals. Caroline had tried to speak to him over their holidays, but he’d done an exceptional job of avoiding her. He was always finding a reason to exit the room when she entered. She felt awful that she’d hurt him—while she wasn’t sure exactly how she felt about him, she knew that she liked him and hated that he wasn’t his usual, boisterous self.
