Nocticadia: A Dark Academia Gothic Romance

In truth, she worried me a little. Bee had a reckless side to her that’d always put me on edge.

I have a huge crush on the new English Lit teacher here. I caught him staring at me today.

Jesus. I rubbed my brow, trying to decide how to respond, without sounding like our mom. Really, though, who the hell was I to judge?

Just be careful okay? No doing anything crazy that’ll get you kicked out.

I felt like a hypocrite typing those words.

No, I know. I won’t. But Lil, he’s so hot. I mean, smokin’ hot. All the girls in my dorm are going nuts over him. Wanna see a pic?

I groaned, shaking my head.

Sure. But Bee, seriously, just be careful, okay?

Yeah, I know. Okay, sending a pic now. It’s not the best–had to snap it quick during class.

I waited for what seemed like an eternity.

A picture popped up, of a guy standing in front of the class in a pair of dark jeans and a black shirt.

The air stalled in my chest.

I clicked to enlarge it and zoomed in on his face.

An exact replica of Devryck.

This is Mr. Caed. Isn’t he yummy?! He drives a fucking motorcycle to school, Lil. Think I’m going to ask him out for coffee tomorrow!

I breathed hard through my nose to calm the frantic thrumming of my heart.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

It was my mother, my refusal to accept her death, to accept what the world had taken from me, that had brought me to Dracadia in the first place. And it was there that I’d faced death head-on. So smitten, I fell in love with him–his abrasive heart and blood-stained hands. The dangerous and erudite professor, with fiery eyes and cold steel flesh. We hid away in shadows, stealing kisses under midnight stars. He taught me passion and courage, and to seize what I wanted by the teeth.

And in return, I taught him to feel again.

She was due to spend Christmas with me on the island. I’d sent her a train ticket, and itinerary of activities. Such as skating in Canterbury park, perusing the book shops in Emberwick, and of course, coffee at Dragon’s Lair. I also planned to introduce her to Devryck. Professionally, seeing as I hadn’t uttered a word of our relationship to her.

Mom’s old house was still being renovated and wouldn’t be ready for another couple of weeks, but come summer, the house would be fully updated with all the modern amenities. A home for me and Bee. A place we could come back to whenever we wanted, because it was ours.

After Devryck had submitted the results of the last variant, The Rooks were all too eager to offer me whatever I wanted to remain involved in the study.