Gabriella Poole - Divided Souls (Darke Academy)

Patrick took a breath and sat back in his chair. ‘It was nearly twenty years ago now. In our final term. The Academy was in Mexico City,

and we had all these special classes and field trips in archaeology. It was a bit like here in Istanbul, actually. Anyway, Erik was working on a

project with Sir Alric; they’d gone off to the Yucatán for a week. I remember how excited Erik was, how pleased he was that Sir Alric had

chosen him out of all the Few students, trusted him. And he was fascinated by the project too, whatever it was.’

‘You never found out?’

‘Sir Alric came back alone on the third day. I knew something was up but no one was told anything. Not till he called me to his office and

broke the news that Erik had been killed. In a landslide.’

‘God.’ Cassie touched his hand. ‘You must have been devastated.’

‘Yeah. I mean, he was so young, so intelligent, so full of promise and potential. Beautiful-looking, of course. He was one of the Few, after

all. I suppose I had a little bit of a crush on him. Still, he had a lifetime’s happiness and success ahead of him.’ Patrick stared at the

tablecloth. ‘And it was all gone, just like that. Surreal.’

The silence that fell wasn’t uncomfortable. It felt quite appropriate. At last, Patrick looked up and nodded to the hovering waiter.

‘I always wondered what they were looking for, out there in the Yucatán.’ He shrugged. ‘But Sir Alric never said. I suppose, after Erik died,

it was irrelevant. Now.’ He sat up, trying to look more cheerful, and smiled at the waiter. ‘Are you ready to order, Cassie?’

When they’d chosen – Cassie with some difficulty, since she wanted at least five of the things on the menu – Patrick shook his head and

smiled more positively. ‘Let’s not talk about sad things any more, eh? I want to hear what you’ve been up to here this term. Any nice boys?

Whatever happened with that Ran—’

‘Uh, we’re not talking about him,’ she interjected, with a slightly stiff smile.

‘Ah.’ Patrick nodded. ‘Fair enough! I’ll stick to safer subjects. What’s the Academy building like? We never came to this one while I was a

student.’

Cassie smiled, relieved he didn’t press her any further on romance. ‘It’s pretty spectacular actually. Certainly a far cry from Cranlake.’

‘I don’t doubt it! Well, tell me all about it, and while you’re at it, give me some gossip about the teachers. Some of them haven’t changed

since my day, you know.’

‘Yeah, the ones with the cobwebs hanging off their eyebrows might be familiar to you,’ she ribbed.

‘Hey! I’m not that old!’

As Patrick began to list off some of the teachers he’d had while he was at the Academy, Cassie sighed contentedly. One thing was sorted

at least. Giggling at his irreverent comments, Cassie realised with a huge sense of relief how much she’d missed him. Thank God she’d

sent that text. This was just what she’d needed, a connection to her old life. She wouldn’t forget it, or him, just because of this new start of

hers. He was family.

Now all she needed to do was kick Ranjit out of her thoughts for good, and she’d be sorted.

CHAPTER SIX

The long weekend that Patrick had spent in Istanbul seemed to fly by – before Cassie knew it, she’d been seeing him off at the airport.

Great as it was to see him, Cassie was oddly pleased to fully re-immerse herself back into Academy life. As she walked through the

courtyard, just the trickling splash of water in the fountain made her feel cooler in the summer heat. She paused, books in her arms, smiling

up at the statue of Leda and her swan against the open sky. She got fonder and fonder of the poor girl, seduced by that savage beautiful

bird. Cassie knew exactly how she felt …

Nah, she told herself firmly. Leda should have dumped that swan. Or better still, wrung its scrawny neck.

She’d like to wring Ranjit’s, that was for sure. Funny how, for all his grandiose declarations, she’d seen barely hide nor hair of him in the

past few days. His new devotion to her obviously wasn’t interfering with his old habit of skipping half his classes. Maybe he was off like

Indiana Jones, finding the solution to all their problems. Yeah, right.

‘Cassie!’

She turned and was surprised by the genuine feeling of happiness she felt when she saw who was coming towards her. Richard’s

insolent grin was infectious, and she couldn’t help but return it as he sauntered across the courtyard. When he reached her, he aimed a kiss

at Cassie’s cheek and seemed a little surprised when she let it connect.

‘You looked like you were struggling a bit in there,’ she joked, gesturing back towards Herr Stolz’s classroom.

‘Bloody hell, you’re telling me,’ he said, making a show of trying to get air down his collar. ‘Maths was purgatory today, Bell, I don’t know

how you do it.’