Changes, p.1
Changes, page 1
part #5 of Destine Academy Series
Destine Academy: Changes
Book 5 of the Destine Academy Series
by Sara Snow
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Other Books By Sara Snow
Guide to the Destine Academy Factions
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
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About the Author
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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
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)
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 crouched against the closed bathroom door, hugging her knees to her chest. Her breaths came out in short, sharp bursts as hot tears stung her eyes. Refusing to look up at the mirror where it hung on the wall over the sink to her left, Caroline instead focused on the floor tiles. The image of the black hood lifting to reveal Tempeste looking exactly like her still burned in her mind. It felt like a nightmare she couldn’t wake up from.
Why does Tempeste look like me? How can she look like me? What does it mean?
Caroline didn’t know how long she sat there for—but she didn’t feel she could stand without her knees buckling beneath her. So much had happened in only a few weeks that she wasn’t even sure who she was anymore. It was hard to believe she’d been so excited to turn sixteen. Her whole life had become a complete shamble ever since. Now to top it off, she was stuck in the bathroom, too afraid to look at her own reflection for fear of what she’d see. Caroline angrily wiped the tears away with the back of her hand before her anger and frustration took over. Gripping both sides of her face, she screamed as loud as she could. The noise sounded raw and primal to her ears, filled with anguish and loss, both from the past and the present. It was piercing as it bounced off the tiled walls. A sudden cracking snapped her out of it, but her scream continued to echo around the bathroom. The cracking continued, and Caroline had just enough time to cover her head with her hands as the mirror shattered, showering her with glass.
When quiet finally fell over the bathroom, Caroline lowered her hands, her mouth falling open as she looked at what she’d just done. Her eyes traced the path of the broken glass across the floor, and she was both amazed and confused to see that the debris stopped a foot or so in front of her, creating a perfect semi-circle of glass shards as though something prevented them from getting any closer to her.
Did I do that? Am I really that powerful?
The thought gave her a renewed sense of inner strength—if only temporary, and Caroline braced herself against the door behind her and slowly got to her feet. Walking over the broken glass, she felt a strange pleasure in the way it crunched beneath her feet. Caroline hesitated as a sudden flash of fear coursed through her as she neared where the mirror had been above the sink. Feeling a lump in her throat, she questioned whether it would be a better idea just to leave the bathroom and close the door firmly behind her like nothing had happened. Yet, knowing she was just as trapped in her bedroom as she felt in the bathroom, her curiosity won out, and Caroline slowly raised her head to where the mirror was only moments before.
What??
There was a gaping hole in the wall, and Caroline tried to get a closer look but was impeded by the sink. Reaching out her arms, she half expected to feel the wall beneath her hands and that her mind was playing tricks on her, yet as her hands moved through the hole, she realized it wasn’t a figment of her imagination. The hole was perfectly square and would have only been an inch or so smaller around the edges than the mirror. Caroline shook her head slowly as she let it sink in—the mirror had concealed a tunnel. Stranger still, it looked nothing like what she’d seen in the mirror—the cave-like setting that Tempeste lurked in. This was a tunnel, narrow and dark, not the huge cavern lit with torches that she’d seen earlier. Placing her hands on either side of the sink, she pressed down, testing to see if it would hold her weight. Caroline flicked a glance back at the bathroom door, still hoping she could pretend like nothing had happened. Caroline wondered if the tunnel was some kind of trap. Had her aunt known about the tunnel all along? Had she locked her in her room knowing that she would find it? Caroline sighed, rubbing her eyes, suddenly feeling far older than her sixteen years.
Letting her arms fall back to her sides, she decided there would be plenty of time to determine her aunt’s motivations later. Right now, she wanted to get as far away from the bathroom as she could. Carefully bracing herself against the sink, she climbed onto it and leaned into the tunnel. She was surprised to find the surface smooth under her hands, and as she pulled herself in, Caroline thought the floor of the tunnel was made up of smooth stone pavers. It was too dark for her to know for sure, so she stopped and closed her eyes, mentally scanned through her Magicks schoolwork for a way to conjure some light. With a smile, Caroline uttered the incantation and watched as a small orb of golden light formed in front of her. Once it reached the size of a tennis ball, she gave a quick nod, and it hovered ahead, lighting up the tunnel as it went.
Caroline examined her new surroundings. She’d guessed right about the stone pavers, but they weren’t just lining the floor of the tunnel—but the entire inside. While it seemed strange that someone would go to that kind of effort, she didn’t want to waste time trying to figure out who would bother—or why—as she started crawling on her hands and knees. Almost immediately, she felt the ground sloping downwards, and she was careful to keep her eyes ahead, watching the light as it revealed more stone in case the decline should steepen unexpectedly—her bedroom was on the second floor, after all.
Her knees throbbed from the hard stone and it felt like she’d been crawling for ages, but she continued moving forward. Caroline didn’t think she could turn around even if she wanted to, and she stopped every so often to stretch each leg out and take some of the pressure off her aching knees. The orb stopped, hovering in the space ahead of her, and Caroline quickly caught up to see why. She found herself faced with three possible directions to take. She groaned, not wanting to make the wrong choice and find herself crawling through the hidden spaces of the academy for hours on end. She could continue straight ahead, where it looked like the tunnel leveled out. Or, she could go left, which saw the tunnel continue to slope or go to her right, which sloped upwards. She ruled out the right side, not wanting to head back the way she came, but was uncertain which way to go from there.
Closing her eyes, she tried to picture where her room was in the overall layout of the academy and roughly what direction she would be going in. She’d lost all perception of time and distance and honestly didn’t know if she was still within the academy. Closing her eyes, Caroline tried to hone in on her newly acquired Voyante skill, but she wasn’t sure how it worked. Under the darkness of her eyelids, she could still see the illuminated outlines of the tunnel entrances, and as she stared, she saw a purple light move around the outside of the left tunnel. Taking that as a sign, Caroline steered herself to the left. The decline of the tunnel was steeper now, and twic
The orb stopped again, and Caroline hurried forward, hoping it meant she’d finally come to an end. She was faced with what appeared to be a dead end.
No! I did not come all this way for nothing!
Caroline knew she was stuck. Firstly, she feared the tunnel was too steep to climb back up, but secondly, she wouldn’t be able to turn around in the first place. Unable to believe her rotten luck, she angrily banged against the stone wall in front of her. She wanted to scream, but after what had happened in the bathroom, she was scared that she would bring the tunnel down upon herself. Breathing heavily, she realized she could still smell a strong floral scent and knew it must be coming from the other side of the wall. Caroline placed both her hands against the stone, and closing her eyes, she summoned her Surnatural strength. At first, all she could feel was the slight vibration beneath her hands, but nothing more. Taking a deep breath, she tried again, this time directing her energy through her hands and into the stone. There was a loud crack, and she felt the stone tremble away from her hands. Caroline opened her eyes and held her arm up over her face as she squinted against the sudden light. Blinking rapidly as her vision adjusted, she found herself looking out into a greenhouse. The light came from the glass peaked roof, muted by the overcast sky, but still far brighter than inside the tunnel. The ground was swept dirt, and there were rows and rows of plants, flowers, and herbs. She suspected the underlying smell she’d detected was compost, and she scrunched up her nose in disgust as she got a particularly strong whiff of it.
“I think it came from over here somewhere,” a voice called out, and Caroline tried to find somewhere to hide-without moving back into the tunnel. She wasn’t quick enough, and she flinched as she saw two sets of feet moving towards her from the next row.
“Caroline?”
She looked up to see Nadine and Aldrick peering at her with equal parts bemusement and concern.
“Uh, hey.” She replied, taking Aldrick’s hand as he offered it to her and helped her to her feet.
“What are you both doing here?” she asked them, brushing the dirt from her knees and hands.
“We’re in the middle of herbology and heard a strange sound, so the professor asked us to come and have a look,” Nadine explained.
“I think the real question here,” started Aldrick, “is what are you doing here?”
Caroline looked down to where he still had a hold of her hand, and he dropped it like it was a hot coal. She tried to ignore it.
“Wait, is that a hole in the wall?” Nadine asked as she looked around behind Caroline. Aldrick was quick to follow her gaze.
“Is that a tunnel? Did you just crawl out of a tunnel?” Aldrick asked. Caroline nodded, unsure what else to say.
“How? Where did it come from? How did you find it?” Nadine asked.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Caroline replied.
“Well, in that case, I think you absolutely have to tell us—but it will have to wait until after class,” Nadine instructed, turning to lead the way.
“What? I can’t just walk into the class casually like I’ve just appeared out of thin air!” Caroline hissed.
“You kind of have, though.” Aldrick pointed out but quickly silenced as both girls flicked him annoyed looks.
“The entrance that normal people use is down that way,” Nadine pointed to the opposite direction from where’d they’d come, “so it would just look like you came in from there anyway. If the professor asks why you’re so late, you just say you were with the headmistress. Which you were, weren’t you?”
“Yes. Well, no. Yes, and then no. It’s complicated.” Caroline tried to explain.
“We have to get back before the professor suspects something’s wrong and sends someone else over,” Aldrick stated.
“Okay. But what do we do about that?” Caroline asked, turning and pointing to the huge hole in the wall behind her.
Aldrick stepped forward and held out his hands, his eyes closed, and his head raised. Caroline found herself more engrossed with watching him, than watching the shattered stones move back up into the wall as though someone had hit rewind. When he’d finished, he gave her a rare smile.
“You missed a bit,” Nadine stated, and with a flick of her wrist, sent a small rock up into the wall.
“Show off,” Aldrick said, the moment broken as he turned and led the way back to class.
The professor glanced at Caroline as she joined them, but didn’t say anything, instead continuing with his demonstration on how to extract resin from a gnarled looking branch.
Caroline was grateful that Aldrick and Nadine were so focused on their classwork, both eager to succeed in their final exams. It felt utterly surreal to her that she’d just traveled through the academy in a secret tunnel—and that it happened to lead from behind her bathroom mirror. What purpose could such a tunnel have? It was just another in a long line of questions she had about Destine Academy, and she was determined to do whatever it took to get some answers.
Chapter Two
As soon as class was over, Nadine was back in the twenty-questions mode as the three of them hurried out of the greenhouse. Caroline stopped, looking up at the academy.
“What is it?” Nadine asked as they turned back to see what was stopping her.
“I, uh. I’m not sure if I should go back in there.”
“What else are you going to do? You can’t stay out here all day; it’s too cold.” Aldrick stated with his usual logic.
“What happened in there?” Nadine asked, walking over and placing an arm around her friend.
Caroline opened her mouth before closing it again, unable to shake the feeling she was being watched.
“What about talking under the bleachers? Would you feel better talking about it there?” Nadine asked, and Caroline nodded. The three of them turned and hurried down the hill and down the steps of the bleachers before circling around underneath them.
“Okay. Now tell us what happened.” Nadine said.
Caroline shivered suddenly, and as she wrapped her hands around herself, she didn’t know if it came from the sudden icy chill in the air or from having to recall what had happened. Aldrick took off his blazer and draped it over Caroline’s shoulders.
“Um, thanks,” she replied, looking up at him, surprised to meet his gaze. They stared at each other for a moment until Nadine cleared her throat impatiently.
“Come on. The suspense is killing me.” She said, and Aldrick stepped back. Caroline pulled the blazer around herself, grateful for the warmth she could still feel from his body. She tried to ignore how amazing it smelled. “This is going to sound crazy…” she started.
“Of course, it is. When have you told us something that didn’t sound completely crazy? It’s why we love you.” Nadine grinned, giving her friend a gentle nudge in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Caroline gave her a small smile. “Okay. So, as you know, my aunt came and got me from breakfast this morning.”
As she told them what had happened, she watched their expressions change from interested, to concerned, and then to shock as she told them what she saw in the mirror.
“What is going on?” Aldrick whispered, more to himself than to the others.
“Was it really her? Tempeste, I mean?” Nadine asked.
“I have no idea. I mean, I don’t know what she’s supposed to look like. I just know she wouldn’t look like me. It had to be some kind of trick,” Caroline replied.
“Wait,” Aldrick interrupted, “what if she does?”
“What are you talking about?” Nadine asked.
“Remember the image Tilda saw in the book at the library? The one we assumed was Caroline? What if that was actually Tempeste?”
