Shifters and Secrets: GRIMM Academy Book 1 Read online

  “That has never happened. They wouldn’t. No one is stronger than the queen and their very existence depends on her. They’ll protect their monarch and her code at all costs.”

  Everyone nodded along. I rolled my eyes. Grayson’s arrogance was getting on my nerves. I could see why Javi disliked him. I glanced at my cousin who was scowling at Grayson.

  “Very astute, Mister Chapman. I see you’ve been following closely.”

  I grunted, catching his attention. He frowned at me. I turned back around and pretended to listen as the professor droned on and on about history that I couldn’t care less about. By the time class was over, I was ready to down the biggest cup of coffee I could. Unfortunately, I had one more class before break.

  Physics, and the only one I liked in that class was Brady, though he barely attended. That day turned out to be another one of his absent days. I tried to keep my eyes open in class. I did, but by the middle of the class period, I found myself dozing off. The room was so warm and Professor Lipstein’s voice had a melodic sound to it. Not to mention the topic—physics was as interesting to me as my toenail. I mean, wasn’t it bad enough we had to endure algebra on its own, but here it was again in science?

  “Miss Perez,” a voice called from faraway.

  I smiled, dazedly.

  “Miss Perez.”

  Snickers echoed around me. I blinked at sat up. Professor Lip’s bushy brow furrowed at me.

  “Oops,” I blurted.

  His scowl deepened, lines so deeply etched into his forehead, he looked like Treebeard.

  “Oops?” Fury flashed in his eyes. “Report to the headmaster’s office. Now.”

  A round of ‘ooh’s went up. I rolled my eyes. Idiots. I was the lucky one. I’d take sitting in the headmaster’s office over physics class any day.

  “Aye, aye, captain.” I gave him a smart salute and stood.

  His face reddened even further. Biting my tongue, I gathered my stuff and scurried out before he exploded.

  “Don’t forget your extra homework,” he called, a smugness in his tone.

  I groaned as I turned to grab the papers he held out for me. Shoving them back into my bag, I hurried out the door before he could give me more.

  Heading for the headmaster’s office, I stopped at the student lounge. He didn’t say anything about not stopping for a coffee before I met my punishment. I dug into my backpack to retrieve my ID card.

  Making a beeline to the café cart, I got in line to order.

  “It’s moving.” A gruff voice sounded behind me.

  I turned, my eyes widening as I came face to face with Grayson. After nearly a week of ignoring me he decided to speak to me now? His steel-blue eyes drilled into mine and his perfect lips quirked into an amused smirk.

  “The line. It’s moving,” he repeated slowly.

  “Oh.” I took a step forward and glanced back. “You don’t have to be rude about it.”

  He scoffed. “Me? You’re the one taking everyone’s time up.”

  I stretched my neck, glancing behind him and giving him a pointed look.

  There was no one else behind him in line.

  “Some of us have classes we actually attend,” he muttered.

  My hand when to my hip. The boy was insufferable, but why did he have to look so hot in the uniform? It was seriously unfair.

  “Well, some of us have the headmaster’s office to get to.” I mentally kicked myself as the words spilled out.

  Why did I tell him that?

  His eyebrows shot to his hairline. “You got a mark?”

  “No.” I frowned.

  “Next!” The brunette girl behind the cart yelled. She gave me a hurry-the-hell-up look.

  Not so friendly when Javi wasn’t there to flirt with. Turning my back on Grayson, I sauntered up to the counter and put in my order. I swiped my card in the reader and waited.

  It made a strange beep.

  The girl swiveled the screen toward herself and gave me an irritated sigh. “Your account has no balance, hun. Next.”

  She shooed me away. My mouth dropped open in surprise, heat spread up my neck. No balance? What the hell? Tía Teresa said I would have $500 for whatever I needed.

  “Here. Use mine.” Grayson reached past me and handed her his ID card.

  She blew out her breath and shrugged. “What do you want?”

  “Large black tea,” he replied.

  I gaped at him. Tea? Who drank tea?

  Realizing my silence was probably making me look rude, I smiled at him. “You didn’t have to do that. Thank you.”

  He shrugged a shoulder. “Sure. You can get next time.”

  My heart skipped. Next time? Was he… did that mean he was asking me out? I wasn’t sure how to take it, and he offered no further explanation. Instead he walked over to the condiments bar, leaving me standing there alone and confused.

  The brunette shook her head, making a face that caught my eye.

  I frowned at her. “What?”

  “It’s not my business, but I wouldn’t get involved with him if I were you.”

  When she didn’t explain herself, I scoffed. “Why not?”

  Her eyes went wide. “Are you kidding? That’s Grayson. He and your cousin like hate each other.”

  Yeah, I’d gotten that, but what did that have to do with me? I opened my mouth to tell her just as much, but Grayson walked back up, so I clamped my mouth shut.

  “Shouldn’t you be heading to the headmaster’s? He isn’t a patient man.” Grayson nodded toward my drink as the girl set it down.

  “Yeah. I’m going. Thanks for the coffee.” I grabbed my cup, stirred in some sugar and smiled at him.

  To my surprise, he returned the smile. Blue eyes crinkling in the corners and perfect teeth. I nearly stumbled.

  Le dang, did he have a sexy smile.

  “See you around,” I added lamely.

  I turned around and started walking, hoping he couldn’t see the blush on my face. Feeling eyes on me, I didn’t dare look back. I was still grinning like an idiot by the time I made it to the headmaster’s office.

  Probably not the picture of innocence and contriteness that I needed to portray. I relaxed my face and downed the rest of my coffee before knocking on his door.

  “Come in,” a voice sounded.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my tío walking toward his own office.

  Don’t make eye contact.

  Crap. It was too late. He’d seen me. I opened the door and slid in before he could say something to me. No doubt I’d hear about it later.

  “Rose Perez. Take a seat, please.”

  I obeyed.

  The man who sat before me had the same brown eyes as Brady, but gray peppered his once blonde-brown locks. Unlike the casual coldness his son put off, he was the opposite—straitlaced and uptight, meaning I wasn’t going to win him with my charm.

  “I suppose it’s about time we met, no?” he drawled. The superiority in his tone reminding me of Brady.

  “Suppose so,” I replied.

  He tapped his pencil against his desk and eyed me. “I must admit, Miss Perez, I was hesitant to allow your acceptance here. In fact, I voted no on the school board, but well, your uncle is a very persistent man. The others follow him.” He threw the words at me like it was somehow my fault my tío got his way.

  Not knowing how to respond, I continued to stare blankly at him.

  His brown eyes narrowed. “My sources tell me you’ve been consistently sleeping through class.”

  His sources?

  My nose wrinkled. “You mean Professor Lip?”

  “Hmm. Other classes as well. And you’ve been told repeatedly not to wear that jacket.”

  I glanced down at my outfit.

  “You’ve also failed to sign the student handbook and school policy agreement.”

  “Well, I never received those.” I gave him my most innocent stare.

  “The e-version hasn’t even been downloaded to your stude
nt tablet.”

  Oops.

  I widened my eyes. “There’s an e-version?”

  He wasn’t buying it.

  “Tell me, Miss Perez, why do you want to be here at the GRIMM Academy?”

  His question threw me for a loop. I don’t. I wanted to blurt, but that would only lead to more questions. My eyes flicked toward my bracelet. Was tío listening in right now? Is that how it worked?

  “Miss Perez?”

  I sighed. “The only reason I’m here is because my family expects me to learn… at the very best school.”

  The words felt like my own, but where was I going with that response?

  He tapped his desk once more. “Hmm. Even after your incident with the shifter?”

  My eyes snapped to his. It was the first time I’d been questioned about it besides the lecture my tío gave me.

  His eyebrow arched in expectation.

  “What about my incident?”

  He stopped tapping and folded his fingers together on top of his desk. “Why is it you were the only student targeted? An attack like this hasn’t happened in years. Certainly not during my time as headmaster.”

  I gaped at him. Was he implying I’d faked the attack? For what purpose? What did Grayson report to him and why was this the first he was bringing it up to me?

  “Well?” he demanded.

  Anger flared inside me. “How should I know? I thought it was the school’s duty to find my attacker and ensure the safety of its students.” I threw his formality and properness back at him.

  His face darkened. “We are doing everything in our power to find your alleged attacker. In fact, I have a very important meeting tonight and tomorrow with the council in L.A.”

  I glared at him. He did think I was faking. Was this about his obvious jealousy at my tío’s influence over the board? Did he think my tío put me up to it just so I could make him look bad?

  “So, am I dismissed or what? I’m supposed to turn in my physics work before lunch.”

  He sat back in his chair and studied me. I met his stare, refusing to play nice now. It was bad enough I had my tío to deal with, but there was no way I was going to let another machista jerk run over me.

  “I’m giving you a mark. If I find you in my office again, I’ll have to give you more. Do you understand, Miss Perez?”

  My lip curled. “Got it.”

  He waved me out and I didn’t waste another second. Red spots dotted my vision as I left, biting my tongue before I snapped at him.

  Once outside the door, I took a deep breath and tried to relax. I didn’t know what the hell a mark meant, nor did I care, but the whole encounter left me shaking with fury.

  I grabbed my physics assignment and threw it in a trash can as I walked by. Professor Lip could go stuff himself for all I cared. Feeling slightly better, I sent Javi and Shiloh a message letting them know I was on my way to lunch.

  Food therapy was just what I needed.

  The cafeteria was swarming with students when I arrived. Shiloh messaged me that she was working through lunch and would catch up later. Javi didn’t respond, but I found him waving me down from the back of the room.

  He was with his usual gang of snobs—Tyler, some other dude, and two girls that I’d met once before. I didn’t miss the fact that the girls seemed to rotate weekly. My shoulders sank as I sighed and walked over. It was better than eating alone. They flashed me fake smiles as I joined them which I didn’t bother to return. Let them think me rude. I didn’t care.

  “Why are we sitting here today?” I asked Javi.

  The others snickered. I frowned at Javi, who just kept smirking.

  “You’ll see,” was his cryptic response.

  Tyler snorted, soda coming out of his nose. Classy.

  I glanced down at the menu my cousin handed me, wondering when I was going to get the joke. The conversation carried on without me. I half listened as they went on about the upcoming house election, the final test, and the newest shifter attack in the city.

  “Finally. We’ve been wondering when you were going to take our order,” Tyler’s voice boomed over the others.

  I turned to find Grayson standing in front of us, an unreadable expression on his face.

  “Grayson?” I blurted.

  His face hardened. “Yes?”

  My nose crinkled. “What are you doing?”

  He waved his arm down his uniform. “Working.”

  The table erupted in fits of laughter.

  I shot a glare at Javi. He didn’t meet my gaze. The coward. I expected a stunt like this from the others, but not him.

  “I hope you aren’t expecting a tip. We still don’t have drinks,” Tyler sneered.

  Grayson glared at him. “Let me guess, strawberry daiquiri for you or have you already hit your midday alcohol limit?”

  I snorted.

  Tyler’s face reddened. “What did you say to me, Chapman?”

  Grayson stood his ground. “Do you need me to repeat it slower?”

  Tyler shot to his feet, banging the table on his way up. “Pulto.”

  Grayson threw his arms up. “Oppilo.”

  My eyes widened. Javi stood and laid a hand on Tyler’s shoulder. “Stop. The guards will catch you.”

  “I hope that was worth the mark you’ll be getting for your unwarranted cast,” Grayson sneered.

  His gaze raked mine. “Some of us aren’t here to play games.” With that, he turned on his heel and stormed away.

  My cheeks reddened. His words were a slap. Who was the one playing games?

  I stood and threw a glare at Javi and the others. “I’m getting something to go.”

  Javi’s protests faded as I stalked away. I stood in line to place an order and scarfed down the sandwich as I headed for my next class, where I got extra homework assigned for being late. Two hours later and I was ending my day with Professor Cassiano and his ruthless drills.

  “Where is your head, Miss Perez?”

  I fumbled with the heavy sword, slashing the air in frustration.

  “I’m trying,” I grumbled.

  Sweat trickled down my neck. I lowered the sword and groaned. My body protested the movement.

  “You’re wasting my time. Come back when you can focus.” Professor Cassiano held up a hand.

  A lick of anger curled in my chest. I handed him the sword and marched toward the door.

  “Miss Perez.”

  I froze.

  “I expect you to work twice as long tomorrow morning. 5:00 a.m.”

  My jaw dropped. “What?”

  “That will be all, Miss Perez.” He turned his back to me and locked up the sword.

  I growled in frustration as the door slammed behind me.

  Perfect. Just perfect.

  What started as a crappy day had just become an even crappier one. I tried to brush it off, but I couldn’t stop replaying the lunch scene again and again. Some of us aren’t here to play games. What did he even mean by that, and why did I freaking care so much?

  17

  “Tough day?” Shiloh asked as I threw myself face first onto my bed.

  I lifted my head and looked at her. “How could you tell?”

  She smiled and moved closer toward me, uncertainty written in her eyes. “Do you… want to talk about it?”

  Flipping over, I sighed and stared up at the ceiling. “I don’t know. I fell asleep in physics again and got sent to Headmaster Rutherford. Now I have extra homework and a mark, whatever that means.”

  She nodded sympathetically. “Professor Lipstein?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re not the only one sleeping in his classes. Believe me.”

  I sat up and pulled off my shoes so I could sit crisscrossed on my bed. “And Javi…” I stopped myself. He had his idiot moments, but deep down I knew he was a good guy and I didn’t want to tell Shiloh something that would tarnish her image of him.

  Her eyes blinked behind her coral glasses. “What did he do?”

>   I sighed. “Well, it was probably Tyler’s idea, but did you know Grayson works in the cafeteria?”

  She nodded. “Yes. Part time there and part time as the headmaster’s assistant.”

  His assistant? Shock filled me at the revelation.

  “Did they sit at one of his tables again and act like royal douchebags?”

  My eyebrow arched at her description. “Yeah. How did you know?”

  Shiloh shook her head, anger flashing in her eyes. “They do it every time he’s scheduled. Or they did. I thought Javi put a stop to that.”

  Hurt echoed in her voice. I didn’t know what to say. Javi’s friends were bad influences, but when it came to Grayson, he was just as bad as they were.

  “Tyler used some chant and Grayson threatened to report him to the guards. Javi stepped in and nothing else happened.”

  Except for the words Grayson threw at me.

  “Now he probably hates me. Again.”

  Shiloh frowned. “Who?”

  “Grayson. That guy is so confusing. One minute he’s buying my coffee and the next he can barely stand the sight of me and I’m freaking sick of it!”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Are you sure it’s… hate?”

  I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  She rolled her chair closer to me and sat down. “It sounds like he likes you and isn’t owning up to it. Some guys want you to make the first move.” Her lips pursed.

  Was she hinting at Javi? Not wanting to go down that rabbit trail, I stretched my arms out in front of me and sighed. “I don’t know what to think anymore. I wish he would stop playing mind games.”

  She gave me a yeah, me too look and tapped her lip. “Maybe you could try the old fake date trick?”

  Noticing my obvious lack of understanding, she blushed and adjusted her glasses. “You know. Go out with someone else to make him jealous? I’ve never tried it, but it always works in the movies.”

  I scoffed. “I don’t know. When does real life every turn out to be like the movies?”

  “More than you think. Life is stranger than fiction sometimes.”

  “But wouldn’t that be using somebody just to get someone else’s attention?”

  She blushed. “Yeah, but not if they were in on the secret too.”

  “Hmm.”