Blood Oath (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book Two) (23 page)

Brooklyn smiled widely. "Yay! You’re sixteen. That’s a big deal. Now blow out the candle already," she chirped happily.

Rosalinda looked at me with annoyance, then smiled sourly. "Yes, please blow out the candle so we can go grab breakfast before class, because we’re starved."

I blew out the candle quickly. "There, are you happy?"

Rosalinda rolled her eyes. "Ecstatic."

Zora gave me big hug. "Finally you’ve joined our sweet-sixteen ranks. Welcome."

They clapped loudly as I rolled my eyes. I absolutely hated all the drama that surrounded birthdays. I just wanted to get over it because birthdays always sucked, big-time.

Annoyed, I wiggled my sock-encased toes impatiently.

Zora pointed to the corner. "Your boots are over there."

I quickly walked over, shoved them on my feet, and laced them up tightly. "Seriously, I’m all in on this Warrior kick-butt madness, but the all-black thingy might get tired, like, real quick."

Jessica looked down at her thighs worriedly. "Never mind that. Let’s focus on the fact that I’m wearing leggings and I have at least fifteen more pounds to lose to actually make these work." She pulled at the fabric frantically, snapping it back against her legs with a soft crack.

Brooklyn giggled. "It took me a while to get used to the all-black thing, but I guess it serves its purpose, like sneaking into the darkness and blending in. Seriously, everyone grab your backpack, and let’s scoot." She pointed to the pile of bags in the corner. They all grabbed their backpacks and headed out of the room and into the deadly quiet hallway.

"Where is everyone?" Zora looked around curiously.

Brooklyn quickly hustled down the hallway. "Probably stuffing their faces or already on the way to class. It’s pretty straitlaced around here during school hours. By the way, don’t worry about your class schedule. It’s the same as mine. Today’s a short schedule. That means no second and fifth period today."

She handed me a wrinkled piece of paper with our schedule on it.

Neophytes: Level 1

1st period—Defensive Magic

2nd period—Circle Mentorship (short schedule)

Break

3rd period—Warrior Combat Fighting

4th period—Ares Mentorship

5th period—Study Progression (short schedule)

They followed her down the stairs, across the lounge, and into a huge dining room with a formally set buffet-style table filled with breakfast goodies, with two older men in stark white uniforms standing at attention on each side.

Rosalinda squealed, "Sweet, glorious cappuccino." She grabbed the cup from the breakfast attendant, who held it out politely.

Brooklyn loaded her plate with eggs, pancakes, and bacon. "Okay, grab anything you want or ask the attendants to make you something. I’ll grab a table."

I quickly loaded my plate with my favorite, pancakes, drowning them with maple syrup. Brooklyn waved happily at a group of students sitting at a table eating. Everyone seemed to stop midsentence, looking at me with awe.

"Come on, people. There’s nothing to see here," Brooklyn said smartly before looking at me. "Don’t worry about it, Gabi. You’ll be old news by the end of the week, and they’ll move on to more pressing
Neo
gossip."

I wasn’t worried…I guess maybe a little, but I knew that my peers would be circling me like sharks in the water if I showed fear, so I smiled as I said loudly, "Coming through,
Neophyte
of the week."

Some of them shrugged their shoulders; others snickered and went back to eating like nothing happened.

Brooklyn smiled at me mischievously as I fluffed my ponytails. "That’s how I roll, girl. No worries." I snickered before walking over to the table.

We sat at an empty table and scoffed down our food quickly. In between bites, I scanned the room, checking out all the different groups gathered in their little cliques. And right in the center of it all was Justice, sitting at a crowded table full of NAs, with only one girl hanging on to his arm like a viper.

"Hey guys. Hey Calleis." Brooklyn waved over to Justice and his crew enthusiastically, then looked back at us.

"Okay, here’s the scoop on the dining room pecking order. All middle levelers basically eat together, over there." She pointed to the center of the room. "And first levelers pretty much sit on this side of the room, waiting for a chance to assimilate into middle-leveler stardom."

I shook my head as I shoveled pancake into my mouth. "So, pretty much, it’s separation at its highest."

Brooklyn looked at me directly. "Yep, pretty much." Then she started babbling about
Neophyte
gossip involving two NCs and a fight over an NA.

I was only half listening to her because I was too focused on looking at Justice, who was looking back at me without blinking. He smirked with interest before suddenly whispering something to the two guys leaning back precariously on the chairs beside him. All at once they looked me with that same smirk I was growing to hate with a purple passion.

My eyes widened as Justice and the two super tall, leanly muscular guys, with honey-colored skin and long black dreads skimming their shoulders, jumped up and stormed over to us with predatory eyes.

Brooklyn stopped mid-bite and rolled her eyes. "Okay, don’t look now, but Justice and his entourage are on the move and heading our way."

I snickered because they looked like they had stepped out of some music video, with designer black jeans, close-fitting black T-shirts, and black sneakers with white bottoms. "What’s with the coordinated outfits?" I asked mischievously.

Everyone ignored my question. They were too focused on the commotion as all the
Neophytes
watched with fascination when Justice and the two guys walked over to us confidently.

"Jeez, why is Justice bringing the Terrible Ts over here?" Brooklyn sloppily shoveled a forkful of eggs into her mouth.

I burst out laughing, sending bits of pancake across the table. "What in the world are Terrible Ts? Or better yet, the bigger question is, should I be running for my life?" I asked sarcastically.

She groaned painfully. "We call them the Terrible Ts because they’re twins and big troublemakers. This is the second"—she wiggled two of her fingers dramatically—"Warrior training school they’ve been in. The first one they got kicked out of, which is really no surprise. I mean,
look
at who they hang with." She boldly pointed her fork toward Justice, who was stalking me coldly. His gaze actually made me squirm a little.

Justice and the Terrible Ts finally stood before us, looking at us confidently. Terrible T Number One had a black baseball cap twisted backward on his head of dreads. He nibbled on the silver ball piercing lodged in his bottom lip. Terrible T Number Two had dreads braided back tightly. Justice just stood over me, looking poker-hot gorgeous with his chocolate brown hair tousled like he had just run his fingers through it impatiently. And then he did something unnerving: he smiled at me wickedly.

Terrible T Number One promptly ruffled Brooklyn’s hair playfully. "Hey Brook. What’s up, baby girl?" he asked with a smile.

She swatted his hand away. "How many times do I have to tell you that there’s no touching of the hair. Ever," she growled at him.

Terrible T Number One pulled on it again for good measure. Terrible T Number Two smiled cockily at us, then flicked Brooklyn’s hair playfully.

"Intro, please," the Terrible Ts requested in unison.

Brooklyn sighed, then rolled her eyes as she pointed over to Terrible T Number One.

"This is Terrible T Number One, Terrence." Then she pointed to Terrible T Number Two. "And this is Terrible T Number Two, Troy. And of course you know Justice." She rolled her eyes with exasperation.

Troy’s light green eyes narrowed with fake hurt. "Terrible T? Now that’s just plain rude." He pulled her hair playfully.

She gave him an evil glare as she swatted away his hand. "They’re my super annoying older brothers," she finished painfully.

Terrence’s light green eyes sparkled as he gave me a very interested stare. "I think what she means to say is that we’re her cute and available older brothers."

Justice looked at him icily. "Back off."

Brooklyn snorted loudly before going back to her eggs.

I had to admit, Terrence was very cute, but he was also very conceited. This one I had to knock down a couple of pegs—just to control the situation.

"No, she means annoying." I smiled sweetly before taking another bite of pancake.

A flicker of humor flitted across his eyes before he gave me an all-out dimpled smile. "I like it—this one has an attitude. And you’re very pretty—just like Justice said."

Justice shot him an irritated stare before pulling out a chair to sit by me, totally uninvited.

I blinked with shock before looking over at Justice, who was staring back at me with a scowl on his face. The scowl killed my moment of shock, replacing it with pure cautiousness. I mean, what did he want? My nerves rattled when I actually noticed the clean scent of soap wafting from his body, and the almost delicious heat of his leg, which I was pretty sure he was deliberately pressing against mine.

I cleared my throat noisily before scooting my chair slightly away from him, which caused him to smirk.

Also uninvited, the Terrible Ts pulled out some chairs, sitting down quickly.

Troy leaned closer to Jessica, staring at her happily. "We’re on a mission today, and we will not be deterred until it’s completed." He placed his chin in his hand and winked at Jessica.

Jessica promptly turned bright red as she choked on a spoonful of cereal.

"Jessica, right?" Troy asked quickly.

I thought any minute now Jessica would break out into a fit of nervous convulsions.

Jessica cleared her throat nervously. "Yes, nice to meet you." She was trying to act all nonchalant, but was failing miserably. I mean, who could blame her? She had a very hot guy, who was clearly interested in her, all up in her face.

Zora coughed loudly into her elbow, "Uh—awkward."

Brooklyn punched Troy in the arm, causing him to howl playfully.

"What?" He gave an annoyed stare.

Brooklyn stared right back at him. "Hello? There’s a whole tableful of NCs. Don’t be rude. Say hi."

"Yeah, hi," he said unenthusiastically before turning back to look at Jessica with a cheeky smile.

Justice snatched a piece of bacon from Brooklyn’s plate and chomped on it loudly as he pointed at my neck.

"That’s a seriously hot mark, first leveler." He leaned in, closing the distance between us to lightly trace a finger along it.

I almost choked because the instant he touched me, a weird jolt ran down my arm, almost making me drop my fork. I could tell that he also felt the weird jolt by the appearance of the frown on his face.

I quickly pulled my neck away, giving him an evil glare. "You need permission to touch, and I don’t recall me giving you any," I said sharply.

His gray eyes flashed angrily before his lips curled into a slow, unapologetic smile. "Sorry, I couldn’t help it."

I knew that the only thing he was sorry for was that I was not falling over him with glee at his weak attempt at flirting, which by the way, was so not going to happen.

His gray eyes narrowed on my neck. "Rumor is that you’re the first
Eternal
to be gifted with
Elementi
status." He leaned in real close to me, raising his finger again like he was going in for another touch, which he promptly stopped when I gave him the "you better not" stare.

Justice wagged his eyebrows flirtatiously. "Which, by the way, is super hot."

I could tell that Justice was the type of guy who was used to having girls bend to his will. And he was testing me in a major way. But what he obviously didn’t understand was that I was not the average girl. So to prove a point, I didn’t back away, but leaned in closer to him, looking at him indifferently.

He blinked with surprise before recovering by leaning over and snatching another piece of bacon from Brooklyn’s plate.

She held her fork over his hand threateningly. "Please don’t force me to inflict bodily harm," she grumbled.

Justice laughed wickedly before continuing. "So, my question is, do you get some sort of cool iced-out crown?" His gray eyes narrowed. "And if that’s the case, you better ask for a big enough crown to fit over those big ponytails of yours." He playfully pulled on my curly, fluffy, dog-eared ponytails.

I punched him playfully on the arm. "First, there’s no touching of the ponytails. Second, there’s no iced-out crown, well, at least that I know of. But if I do get one"—I wagged my eyebrows suggestively— "you’ll be the first to know." I winked at him.

His smiled widened before he looked over at the table full of middle levelers trying hard to pretend that they were not listening to our conversation. I noticed that Super CVV was simply livid, her eyes flashing with pure hatred.