Hemlock (Academy of the Dead Book 1)
Contents
About The Author
Also by Rue Volley
Songs to set the Mood
Character Glossary
Spells & Blessings
Copyright Mentions
A Note from the Author
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Every five hundred years, humanity bears a child who has unlimited power over life and death.
And now she’s a teenager.
Rook Dagger spent the first fifteen years of her life safely tucked away in a beautiful cottage on the lake, enjoying home-cooked meals and homeschooling far away from the rest of the world.
But her power couldn’t be hidden forever.
The time has come for Rook to be enrolled in Hemlock Academy, a centuries-old institution designed to cultivate and create the greatest Necromancers in the world.
The children who attend will one day be placed among the seven kingdoms of magic, serving Kings and country for as long as they’re needed.
To harness the power surging through her veins, Rook will need guidance in the art of giving life... and taking it away.
This power makes her unique.
Dangerous.
Different.
Her abilities could make her an unstoppable force of nature if she wasn’t hung up on a boy.
G Gianni—a beautiful distraction with pouty lips, pale skin, and a sharp tongue.
His attention consumes her. His scent entices her. His words infuriate her.
She loves to hate him.
He hates to love her.
And together? Well, together, they could destroy the world.
About The Author
Rue Volley is a USA Today Bestselling Author and award-winning screenwriter who is best known for creating compelling storylines with a multitude of twists and turns that leave her readers virtually speechless.
She specializes in paranormal romances that include otherworldly characters who, regardless of their supernatural abilities, feel oddly familiar, or in other words, human. This, coupled with her easy reading style, wicked sense of humor, and excellent world building skills, has garnered her a fiercely loyal fan base over the past decade who support her regardless of what genre she chooses to write in.
Some of her best works include 13 Ways to Midnight, Hellhound, The Devil’s Gate, and A Vampires Tale of Blood and Light. All of which utilize her skill at piecing together compelling dramas that highlight her love for vampires, witches, angels, and demons across many genres including young adult, new adult, urban fantasy, and erotic romance.
Rue Volley’s work seems to be synonymous with one phrase in the publishing world.
Thoroughly addictive.
She is also accredited with two award-winning screenplays for film, Hellhound (original script, 2014) and Awakening (contributing screenwriter, 2015).
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm7043310/
Rue is represented by Gladys Gonzales Atwell, Publicist, and Sarah Davis Brandon, Publisher.
Business inquiries, please contact ruevolley@gmail.com
Rue loves to hear from her readers!
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Email: ruevolley@gmail.com
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Also by Rue Volley
13 Ways to Midnight (The Midnight Saga, Book #1)
13 Ways to Midnight (The Midnight Saga, Book #2)
13 Ways to Midnight (The Midnight Saga, Book #3)
13 Ways to Midnight (The Midnight Saga, Book #4)
The Dead Boy’s Club
The Devil’s Gate Trilogy
The Devil’s Gate (Book #1)
The Devil’s Fire (Book #2)
The Devil’s Kiss (Book #3)
Hellhound Origins: Tale of the Red Dragon
Hellhound (Episode One: Dead is Dead)
A Witch’s Tale
A Vampires Tale:
Of Blood and Light (Book #1)
Of Smoke and Mirrors (Book #2)
Of Oil and Water (Book #3)
Of Clarity and Reason (Book #4)
Of Grace and Beauty (Book #5)
Of Hope and Faith (Book #6)
This Book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, duplicated, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
©Text Copyright 2020 Rue Volley
Cover by Rue Volley
Edited by Neil M. Schwartz
Formatting by Rebecca Poole
All rights reserved
This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictitious and are products of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual events, or locales or persons, living or dead are entirely coincidental.
Published by
CHBB Publishing
Songs to set the Mood
Playlist
Ruelle- The Other Side
Billie Ellish- You should see me in a Crown
Selena Gomez- Lose you to love me
HAEVN- Back in the water
Maroon 5- Girls like you
Sam Smith – Normani
Gesaffelstein & The Weeknd- Lost in the fire
Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber- I don’t care
Rita Ora- Let you love me
Christina Perri – A thousand years
Berry Blanco, Helsey & Khalid – Eastside
Shawn Mendes- In my Blood
London Grammar- Sights
Rihanna- Stay
Character Glossary
Rook Dagger
Age: 15
Height: 5’3
Weight: 108 lbs
Eyes: Emerald green
Hair Color: Hot pink and purple, but naturally chocolate brown.
Personality: Sarcastic, innocent, curious, courageous, book lover
Bitter Bat the Cat
Age: ?
Height: Tall enough to bite
Weight: How dare you ask
Eyes: Yellow like a demon from Hades
Fur: Black and white
Personality: Biggest turd on the planet
Azalea Dagger
Age: 32
Hei
ght: 5’4
Weight: 125 lbs
Eyes: Emerald green
Hair Color: White blonde
Personality: Charismatic, hyper, theatrical, loving
Nadia Mason
Age: 15
Height: 5’3
Weight: 106
Eyes: Silver lightning
Hair: Black with dark blue tips
Personaility: Energetic, girly, romantic, supportive, curious
G (Gage) Gianni
Age: 17
Height: 6’1
Weight: 142 lbs
Eyes: They shift in color depending on his mood
Hair: Light blue
Personality: Snarky, saracstic, antoganizing, charming
Zander Mason
Age: 250
Height: 6’3
Weight: 165 lbs
Hair: Shaggy and black with sideburns
Eyes: Silver, blue, black (They shift in color)
Personaility: Charming, authoritative, attentive, knowledgable
Cole Parker
Age: 16
Height: 5’9
Weight: 146
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Dark chocolate with flecks of amber (Wears thick black framed glasses)
Personaility: Easily persuaded, book smart, friendly, romantic
Suporting Cast:
Professor Winston Bishop
Professor Venelope Ravenmoor
Professor Christoff Atlas
Sinn (Selkie)
Soll (Selkie)
Zeti (Fae)
Princess Emma Green
Athan
Morte la nuit
La mémoire des étoiles brûle
Une encre éblouissante subsiste
Dans l’écriture de l’aube
La monde naît
Sans déchirement
Le même enfante le même
Allègre renouvellement
Des ventres se nimbent
Lourds de fœtus de soleils
Des flèches d’oiseaux s’élancent
Vers les formes fertiles
Sur le lit du temps
Les vierges bourgeonnent
Des buissons d’anges
Jaillissent de leur nombril
Tout
Est possible
Translation:
When night has died
The stars’ memory keeps burning
A dazzling ink remains
In the handwriting of dawn
The world bursts forth
Tearing nothing apart
Like gives birth to like
Joyful renewal
Bellies are haloed
Heavy with unborn suns
Bird-arrows dart up
Toward fertile forms
Virgins are blossoming
On the bed of time
Angel bushes
Spring from their navels
Everything
Is possible
-Claire Malroux, translated by Marilyn Hacker, Edge (1996)
Spells & Blessings
Love Spell:
Goddess, Moon, and Stars Above
Let my life be blessed with Love
I call upon the Fertile Earth
Send to me a Heart of Worth
I call upon the Scared Water
Grant this Wish unto thy Daughter
I Call Upon the Swirling Air
May I be held in tender Care
I call upon the Steadfast Stone
Never more to be Alone
I call upon the Burning Fire
Bind me true to my Desire
Earth, Water, Air and Stone
Fire, Blood, Flesh and Bone
Goddess, Moon, and Stars Above
Let my Life be Blessed with Love
The Book of Shadows Blessing:
Hearken as the Witches Word
Calls the Lady and the Lord
Moon Above and Earth Below
Sky’s blue hue and Sun’s hot Glow
In this Right and Ready Hour
Share thy Wisdom and Thy Power
May no Failed Student See
Thy Scared Powers That Be
It is They Who will Walk the Hidden Road
To Find the Hearthstone’s Calm Abode
Guardians from the Four Directions
Hear me and offer Thy Protection
May These Truths from Earth and Sky
Be Shaded from Prying Eyes
Stand with Purpose, Stand with Pride
May Your Power be Justified
And Through all the Coming Ages
May we Find Life where Death once Stood
Within These Sacred Pages
So Mote it be!
Mabon Blessing:
Embrace this time the change of light,
With shorter days and longer nights,
The wheel has turned, the time will change,
The darker side of the Earth remains,
There’s magic in the LUNAR light,
With intuition at its height,
The alchemy of Mother Earth,
From birth to death will come rebirth,
Rejoicing in this season, may it fill you with peace,
And may the blessings of nature, for you, never cease.
Copyright Mentions
Bic highlighter
UGG Boots
Fried Green Tomatoes
Steel Magnolias
Cecilie Bahnson
Tach Clothing
Peter Do
Paris Georgia
Gauge81
BITE Studios
Christopher John Waters
Khaite
Rotate
Pyer Moss
Bande Noir
Arje
Kelsey Randall
Orseund Iris
Kalmanovich
Kaboodle
Count Dracula
Queen Elizabeth the Third
Beauty and the Beast
Into the Wood
Little Shop of Horrors
For Stacey Rourke.
We’re not going to waste that shot.
The author would like to personally thank the following people in her life, Sarah Davis Brandon, Karmin Garrison, Jenny Bynum, Jill Hecht, Neil Schwartz, Gladys Gonzales Atwell, and Von Stultz.
A Note from the Author
I want to thank everyone for the love and support that you’ve shown me over the past decade. You’ll never know how all those words of kindness by mail, email, private messaging, and in person have helped me through some of the darkest times of my life.
Now, don’t skip the prologue! It will ruin the book.
Follow your heart when the seas catch fire.
Prologue
It was a crisp summer day, exploding with sunlight and heat that could easily tan the skin. The light cascaded through the double paned window in our kitchen, spilling sparks of light throughout the air as it hitched a ride on various specks of dust. My eyes followed the swirling mass dipping in and out of separate streams, until a passing cloud ended the moment without warning.
I’m too young to properly express myself, because my thoughts are perhaps years ahead of my age. I feel older—trapped in the body of a five-year-old girl, who seems to understand more than she should.
It’s probably best that I keep quiet—for the most part. I do. I keep to myself.
I had been coloring my memories of the day on a piece of parchment paper that’s usually reserved for “Fun Friday.” That’s what Mom calls the day I get to paint
, sketch, or play violin—it’s my choice, instead of the regular curriculum which includes reading, writing, math, and history.
She’s a good teacher, she really is. I can tell she cares about me and wants to give me every tool I’ll need to survive in this world—but, I’d be happy to stay here forever, just like this, if I could. Because I love my life and everything in it just as it is.
Change is scary. Time is too.
But for some strange reason I feel a kinship with time, like it knows me—or I know it.
I bet that sounds silly, and maybe it is. I don’t know.
My crayon slipped, when something hit the window, ruining the tree I had been working on. It was our apple tree in the backyard. Sometimes I draw without thinking. I just create. I don’t even know where it comes from.
I fingered at the mark outside the tree branch. I couldn’t erase it.
It didn’t matter anyway. My Mom would proudly display it on the wall, along with all the other pictures I had drawn from as far back as I could remember.
Sometimes I dream in color about being in a small space. Bent up like a little pretzel, but still able to hear my Mom’s voice clear as day—and Dad’s, too. It couldn’t be from when she carried me in her belly, right? It had to be a dream. I also remember a bright light coursing through me, it tickled at the time. Made me giggle as it raced through my arms and legs, then slipped through my fingertips. It felt like an old friend, the same way time sort of feels like one too.
I also remember classical music. I love the way the strings sound, but mostly I love the vibration. The way it hums across my skin. It soothes me.
I don’t know if that’s normal or not—or if I should care. Normal to me is getting up every day and being right here.
Normal is family.
Normal is the three of us.
Normal is me, my Mom, and my Dad.
I’m sorry. My mind wanders so let’s get back to the day.
I set the crayon on its blunt end, off to the side of my sketch. It wasn’t raining and the apple tree sat too far away from the kitchen window to allow any fruit to fall against the house—even with the strong gusts of wind that would unexpectedly roll in off the lake.
I love those gusts of wind too, but for different reasons.
I like to stand against it with my arms open wide.
It makes me feel like I’m flying. I think that’s why I love birds.