Standardized Testing Read online

  And then I turned to Tony.

  But I didn’t release him.

  Instead, I allowed him enough freedom to walk, but I wrapped that freedom in strands of green-tinted power.

  “Follow me. Meet me in Dr. Novak’s office.”

  And with that command, I took off jogging myself, moving to catch up with my panthers.

  “We’re headed to the headmaster’s office,” I announced.

  All the way back to the Hunters’ Academy, I sensed Tony following us.

  And underneath my layers of magic, he seethed—even as he followed my commands.

  Part of me felt guilty for binding him so tightly.

  But mostly, I was elated.

  With this weapon, I was sure I could help defeat the darkness that was coming for us all.

  Finally, I knew how to prepare for what might happen next.

  The Hunters’ Academy motto, Survive or Die, had never made as much sense to me as it did in that moment.

  Epilogue

  “How long will this binding last?” Dr. Novak asked me, circling around Tony and frowning as he examined the magic that held the other student motionless.

  “Forever,” I said, confident in my answer, though I didn’t know why.

  We were all crowded into his office—me, Reo, and Souji, along with Ms. Hush, Dr. Novak, and the motionless Tony.

  When we’d hit the school, I had sent out a psychic call for Dr. Novak and Ms. Hush. And for the first time ever, I’d been able to focus that call into a tight beam, using some of the magic that my pendant now seemed to have stored in it.

  When we’d gotten to the headmaster’s office, I’d told them everything. I hadn’t mentioned Jolie by name, though—I only said that I had been given the stone pendant by allies.

  Both the headmaster and the instructor had given me long, serious looks when I said that, but neither had asked who the ally might be.

  Not yet, anyway.

  “It looks like snakes when I use it,” I explained as I held out the stone, as if that mattered somehow. “I’m sure it’s the source of the snake-head lady myth.”

  Ms. Hush nodded. “And if he stayed like this forever, it would be very much as if he were turning to stone, wouldn’t it?”

  “It would,” I agreed.

  “I don’t think we should leave him like that, though,” Reo said, swinging back into the office in his human form, fully dressed. I’d been so busy explaining my pendant that I hadn’t even noticed him leave.

  “I agree,” Dr. Novak said. “But everyone here needs rest. Kacie, I’m going to take him to be confined. Go ahead and leave him bound for now. We’ll talk in the morning about when and how to let him go.”

  I wanted to believe that Dr. Novak had made that decision out of concern for my safety and the safety of the school. However, as he left the room, pushing Tony in front of him, I saw the vampire run his fingers above the green bindings, as if he were feeling out the magic.

  I was pretty sure he wanted to test it, to see if he could figure out how he might use the power for himself.

  Or at least for the school.

  I couldn’t blame him. I had seen the darkness that was coming for us, and I, too, wanted all the power I could manage to hold.

  I turned to Ms. Hush. “I did the right thing, didn’t I? By binding Tony, I mean.”

  She tilted her head to one side. “I can’t answer that. We never know if what we’re doing will turn out for the best. Not in the moment. But time will tell.” She turned to walk away, then stopped and faced me again. “If it’s any consolation, in your place, I would have done the same thing.”

  Then she was gone, leaving me in the headmaster’s office with Reo and Souji.

  For the first time since I had felt the darkness down in Florida, I wasn’t entirely terrified.

  It wasn’t going to be just me and a weapon that I barely understood, standing up against the monsters in the dark.

  I had allies.

  I had everyone at the Hunters’ Academy.

  I had Jolie at the Lusus Naturae school.

  And I had power beyond anything I’d ever imagined.

  It was time to prepare to face our enemy.

  Coming Next:

  Hunters’ Academy 8: Year One Final Exam

  She’s survived this long—but her final exam’s a killer!

  Kacie squares off against the Lusus Naturae and ends up in a fight for her life. If she survives, she’ll never be the same again.

  And neither will the Hunters’ Academy.

  Want to know how the Lusus Naturae train their own operatives?

  Get ready to read Jolie’s story!

  Academy of the Damned: A Hunters’ Academy Novella Series

  Coming Summer 2019

  Episode 1: Wicked Witchcraft

  Episode 2: Devilish Divination

  Episode 3: Sinful Sorcery

  The complete Hunters’ Academy: Year One Collection will be available Summer 2019.

  Keep an eye out for Hunters’ Academy: Year Two, beginning Fall 2019!

  Hunters’ Academy Books

  Hunters’ Academy 1: Entrance Exam

  Survive or Die.

  It's not much of a school motto—not as inspiring as, say, “Let us give light to the world,” or “Knowledge is liberty,” or even just “Light and Truth.” Those are all real school mottos. So is this one. It belongs to the Hunters' Academy. And now, so do I.

  Since she was twelve years old, Kacela Deluca has suffered debilitating migraines. On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, she learns her headaches are the result of untapped psychic abilities. She's given a choice: continue to suffer or leave behind everything she knows and join the Hunters’ Academy. The only catch? If she doesn’t pass the entrance exam, she’ll die.

  A teen with blocked psychic powers, a panther shifter who can't—or won't—shift, a secret academy, and the power to defend the entire world...if only Kacie can unleash her potential before it's too late.

  Fans of Vampire Academy, Mortal Instruments, Harry Potter, and Dragon School will love Hunters’ Academy!

  Entrance Exam is episode one of Hunters’ Academy - expect a new episode every month beginning Fall 2018!

  Order Now

  Hunters’ Academy 2: Winter Break

  Santa’s Claws have come to town...

  The worst part of having to stay at the Hunters’ Academy over the winter break is the pure boredom of it. With most of the other students away for the holidays, Kacie has little to do but read and watch movies...and practice all the hunting moves she learned in her first semester.

  When her boredom sends her on a run into the nearby human town, she discovers something horrific preying on the local children. But of everyone still on campus, she’s the only one who can see it—and that means she’ll have to put those hunting skills into practice much sooner than she expected.

  Order Now!

  Hunters’ Academy 3: Crash Course

  If the course load doesn’t kill her, one of her teachers might.

  Having passed the Entrance Exam, sixteen-year-old Kacie DeLuca is ready to buckle down and learn to be a true Hunter. But the Academy’s headmistress has hired a new instructor—a former member of the Lusus Naturae, the self-described “freaks of nature” with dark plans to subjugate humanity.

  When a student’s mutilated body is discovered on campus, all signs point to the new teacher’s guilt, and Kacie might be the only one who believes in her innocence. Worse, Kacie’s magics instructor has been assigned to investigate the murder and seems determined to ignore crucial evidence.

  With no clear sense of where everyone’s loyalties lie, Kacela is about to get a crash course in what it really means to be a monster hunter.

  Order Now!

  Hunters’ Academy 4: Independent Study

  A Hunters’ Academy Short

  She’s on the Dean’s list. And not in a good way.

  When Kacie DeLuca broke through the psychic blocks the evil
Lusus Naturae placed on her, she thought she was free to complete her studies at the Hunters’ Academy.

  She was wrong.

  Now that she’s able to use her powers, the monsters are more determined than ever to keep her from becoming a full-fledged hunter, sending agents to attack her at every turn.

  But Kacie still doesn’t know why they’re targeting her in particular, and the Academy’s new headmistress isn’t sharing what she knows.

  So Kacie and her hunting partner set out to track down the truth on their own—and run headlong into danger of the worst kind.

  Order Now

  Hunters’ Academy 5: Valentine’s Dance

  It’ll be a hell of a dance.

  When a fire threatens to engulf the school the night of the annual Valentine’s Day Dance, Kacie and her friends at the Hunters’ Academy must determine if it’s an accident or the work of the Lusus Naturae, even as they fight to save the Academy itself.

  Valentine’s Dance is episode 5, a special for readers of Hunters’ Academy—expect a new episode every month (and some special stories in between, too!).

  Order Now

  Hunters’ Academy 6: Spring Break

  Monster-hunting’s a beach—and then someone dies.

  Kacie is planning to spend yet another school holiday at the Hunters’ Academy, prepared to be bored out of her mind—even her hunting partner Souji is going home this time, though he doesn’t really want to.

  So when Souji's brother Reo invites Kacie and Souji to join him in a low-level monster hunt at a beach resort, they both jump at the chance to change their plans.

  But of course nothing in their world is ever as it seems, and before long, the three of them are fighting for their lives.

  In order to survive, they’ll need more than one lucky break—and they’ll have to learn how a sea serpent terrorizing a small beach community connects to events at the Hunters’ Academy, over a thousand miles away.

  Order Now

  Hunters’ Academy 7: Standardized Testing

  It’s the biggest test of her life—and she doesn’t know what to study.

  With the threat of the Lusus Naturae and the dark presence Kacie senses moving toward the Hunters’ Academy hanging over them, both the students and their instructors are under pressure to prepare for a showdown unlike any they have seen before.

  But how can Kacie train when no one will even tell her how she can use her powers to help them win?

  Coming in April 2019.

  Hunters’ Academy 8: First Year Final Exam

  She’s survived this long—but her final exam’s a killer!

  Kacie squares off against the Lusus Naturae and ends up in a fight for her life. If she survives, she’ll never be the same again.

  And neither will the Hunters’ Academy.

  Coming in May 2019.

  About the Author

  Ivy Hearne spends her days dreaming of heroes and monsters and the heroines who tame them. She writes young adult paranormal romance and urban fantasy, and fully expects to find herself someday transported to a world of fantasy and magic, where her snarky tendencies will win her the respect of the realm—and probably a crown, too.

  To keep up with all the latest releases, you can sign up for Ivy’s newsletters here.