Gabriella Poole - Divided Souls (Darke Academy)

going to teach this upstart a lesson.

Ha! Movement, sharp, at the corner of his eye. There, beyond that arch with its chipped and faded gilding. Yusuf moved, swift and silent

as a cat.

The anteroom was small, with fretwork cloisters and half-destroyed blue mosaics, and the glow of candlelight didn’t penetrate the

shadows beyond the pillars. There was no exit: it was a trap. Yusuf halted, smiling wryly. Time to turn the tables and flush him out, this

insolent stalker.

‘Show yourself.’ His voice, clear and commanding, echoed through archways.

In response there was only silence. He turned a slow half-circle, eyeing every corner, every shadow.

‘There’s nowhere to go. Face it.’

Still nothing. The flickering golden air was heavy with the stillness.

‘Who the hell are you? Show yourself now .’

A movement, a sound behind him. It might only have been a footfall, but it was close. Too close.

He spun on his heel, tensed to strike, furious at the audacity. The glint of a smile met him, and another, more sinister glint.

‘You! What the hell—’

Yusuf staggered back, flinging up his hands in horror. He didn’t even have time to scream. Couldn’t run. Couldn’t shut his terrified eyes.

He only felt, for the first and last time, a crushing and paralysing terror as the figure sprang for him.

Then every candle in the building went out and Yusuf’s world turned to absolute blackness.

CHAPTER ONE

Three weeks earlier

‘I miss him.’

Cassie Bell remained quiet. Her friend looked over at her again.

‘Jake. I miss him.’

‘I know, Isabella,’ Cassie replied. How could she forget …?

Seared by guilt, Cassie kept her eyes studiously fixed on the blue water and the bright morning over Istanbul. She had no right to get

impatient with her lovelorn roommate. It was partly her fault, after all, that Isabella Caruso’s beloved Jake wasn’t coming back to school

this term.

She wished Isabella could be happier, that was all. It wasn’t just that she hated to see her friend so subdued; she wanted to stop feeling

so bad about it herself. There was a whole new term ahead, a whole new city to discover. And a whole new Cassie, if she could keep her

focus and reboot her school life.

‘Beautiful, isn’t it?’ She nudged the Argentinian girl and smiled, then nodded at the view.

With a visible effort, Isabella pulled herself together and focused on the blue Bosphorus and the city beyond the yacht’s bow rail, all hazy

domes and minarets. A slow smile curved her lips as if she couldn’t help herself.

‘Yes, you’re right. It’s stunning.’

Cassie had never seen a skyline quite like it – though that was hardly surprising, since she’d only begun to be introduced to the exotic

cities of the world less than a year ago. Until then, her life had alternated between unsuccessful foster homes and Cranlake Crescent care

home. Thank God that was all over.

Another shot of guilt. Cassie gulped and tightened her fingers on the rail. Cranlake Crescent wasn’t exactly the Darke Academy, but it

had been home for a very long time, and it hadn’t all been bad. There had been her mates, and the younger kids who looked up to her –

and, of course, there had been Patrick Malone. Her friend, her mentor, her key worker. Kind, supportive Patrick.

Patrick, who betrayed her by sending her to the Darke Academy without bothering to mention its terrible secret …

She shook herself. Going over and over that shocking discovery from last term didn’t help – finding out that Patrick had known about

the dark spirits of the Academy, known that they inhabited some students and fed on others. He had known the danger he was sending her

into. But still he’d sent her.

It was hard to forgive him but, despite all that had happened, over the holidays Cassie had been willing herself to do just that. He was her

link to the past, the closest thing to family she’d ever known. She missed him, damn it. The problem was, she didn’t know where to start.

She’d cut him off dead last term, telling him that she never wanted to see him again. That was why she hadn’t been able to return to

Cranlake Crescent for the Easter holidays: she hadn’t known if she could face seeing Patrick. So when Isabella had extended her holiday

invitation, Cassie had nearly bitten her hand off.

Bitten the hand that fed her …

No. She’d jumped at the chance . That was a better way of putting it. And sailing the Mediterranean on board Isabella’s father’s luxury

yacht, from one exotic ancient port to another, was certainly no penance. Still, seeing Isabella with her family, so close and loving, had