Shadow's Edge (Shadows Saga bk1)

Chapter 7- First Day

Mara sat straight up in bed drenched in a cold sweat, her whole body shaking and her heart racing. She sighed and fell backwards again covering her eyes with her hands. The dream had felt so real, everything about it. Including the fall.

She peeked through her fingers at the clock. “Seven,” she mumbled. Her alarm wasn’t set to go off for another hour but there was no way she would be able to go back to sleep after that. Mara’s heart had finally started to slow as she settled back into reality, her mind still on the dream. The feeling of the grass underneath her, the wind blowing through her hair, the sound of Zander’s laughter. She found it hard to believe that it wasn’t real.

Mara shook her head trying to clear it of all thoughts of the dream. She reached out absentmindedly to pet her cat, something she always did when she was anxious but Sasha wasn’t there. Mara sat up scanning the room but it was completely empty. She was alone.

She decided to get out of bed and get ready for class. If she were up with no hope of relishing in any last minute sleep, she may as well get breakfast before class. Mara knelt down and pulled out a clean uniform, identical to the one she had worn the day before, from the drawer. Mara packed up her textbooks in the black bag, slung it over her shoulder, and headed out the door.

She took the same stairs, making her way down to the lunch hall she had been in the day before with Zander and jumped in the short line. 

As she waited, Mara scanned the room looking at all the different people. She could easily pick out the fae and the dwarves, but she had a hard time distinguishing the witches from… other things.

As her eyes wandered, they stopped on the nameless guy from the stairs. Her eyes locked with his, staying there a moment longer than she had intended before looking away, hoping that he hadn’t actually been looking at her.

Mara made her way through the line quickly, grabbing cereal, fruit, and orange juice before turning to find a table. She contemplated the idea of going to a table and sitting with people, but the thought of introducing herself to magical strangers freaked her out more than introducing herself to human strangers. Thankfully, she spotted one at the other side of the room that was empty. 

She hadn’t been sitting for a minute when she felt someone sit beside her. She could feel the intense stare on her as if it were a physical weight being placed on top of her. She already had a good guess as to who it would be, and turning only proved her right, it was Mr. Nameless.

Mara turned red again which only frustrated her. She wasn’t sure why she was embarrassed; there was no reason for her to be. She may have run into him on the stairs, but that was no reason for her to be embarrassed now.

“Hi,” she murmured incoherently.

“Hi there,” he said with a playful smile. “I just thought I would come over. You ran off yesterday before I had a chance to get your name.”

If it were possible, Mara’s already bright red face went even darker. She had been completely pulled in by his molten brown eyes, like two pools of melted chocolate, and his extremely charming demeanor. “Mara Collins.”

He chuckled. “Well Mara, I’m pleased to meet you. My name’s Makortax Tremonte V, but people just call me Marx.” He held his hand out.

“Nice to meet you,” Mara said as she awkwardly grabbed his hand, shaking it. Her brows pulled together and she looked down at his hand. His skin felt warm, almost feverish, but he didn’t look sick. She was about to ask him if he felt alright but he cut her off before she even had the chance.

“So, I’m guessing you’re new here,” he said. “You don’t look familiar at all.”

She smiled slightly. “Just got here yesterday.”