A Dose of Agony

Dose of Agony SHADOW HILLS ACADEMY: RELENTLESS BOOK THREE STACEY TROMBLEY Copyright © 2023 by Stacey Trombley All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Created with Vellum Contents 1. Alone in Darkness 2. Escape Plans Chapter 3 4. The Girlfriend to Bonded-Mate Pipeline 5. A New Inner Circle Chapter 6 7. Power at my Fingertips 8. I Will Brew Power 9. A Proposition 10. Friendship Probation 11. A Dream or a Nightmare Chapter 12 13. Perfect Punishment 14. I Enjoy Testing You 15. Desperately Needed Information 16. Orizian Studies 17. Another Test 18. Welcome to Hell 19. The Tea is Piping Hot 20. That Fine Line Goes Both Ways 21. Debriefing Chapter 22 23. The Demon By My Bed 24. We Can’t Win All Battles 25. I’m In 26. New Allies Chapter 27 28. I Must Kill Nine Massively Powerful Supernaturals. No big deal. 29. If You Like It Then You Shoulda Put A Claim On It 30. Rejected Prince 31. He Wasn’t Supposed to Hear That 32. Forget Homework, I Need to Catch Up On The Drama 33. A Win is a Win 34. Define Enemy 35. I Need You to Trust Me 36. Desperate Hope 37. How Do I Fix The Problem When it’s Me? 38. Trust Must Be Given, Not Taken 39. The Truth I’ve Been Seeking Is Finally At My Fingertips 40. Agony 41. EVERYTHING 42. Dangerous Wonderful Bliss 43. It’s Hard to Be Mad When You’re This Happy 44. A Dream House 45. I’m Sorry It Took Me So Long 46. Good News 47. The Rejected Princess 48. Aftershocks 49. Brewing Death 50. Only The Beginning 51. Tribunal 52. Victory Slipping Through My Fingers 53. Mind on Fire 54. I Will Fight For Him, Even If He Doesn’t Approve 55. Deal with the Devil 56. Let A New Game Begin 57. Something Is Wrong 58. I Did This 59. Two Major Problems 60. Run, Little Human, Run 61. I Will Not Give Up On You 62. The Final Member of the Cosmic Council 63. Reunion 64. Hell’s Future Queen 65. You’re Free Now Epilog A Note From the Author Before she walks down the aisle, he’ll ensure she is utterly broken. All that's standing between me and freedom are eleven bloodthirsty fae About the Author Acknowledgments 1 Alone in Darkness Cool silk sliding across my calves is one of the most incredible sensations I’ve ever felt, but it’s ruined by the thudding of my panicked heart. The unnerving sound of scraping against the stone flooring, followed by the rattling of an ancient predator’s growl, drags me from a deep sleep. The sound immediately halts the moment my eyes fly open. The room is pitch black and utterly still now that the sound has stopped. Unease rushes through my veins. My limbs and lungs freeze in place. I don’t dare move as my mind works through rational thought. I’m alone—or at least, I should be—in Jarron’s room. He hasn’t been back to the academy in the weeks since the war began in his home world, but I’ve been sleeping in his bed, surrounded by his smell and these decadent silk sheets, every night because it’s “safer” here. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard or felt the presence of something else in the darkness, though, and it instantly makes me regret my choice not to go back to my itchy blankets and tiny bed in Minor Hall. Slowly, the hair on my arms rises. I stare, horrified, yet uncertain what it means. The darkness around me is thick. Charged with alien power that most certainly is not coming from me. Is some powerful magical being watching me? And if so, who? The air remains still. Is it in my head? My heart aches with several emotions. Sadness because I miss Jarron. Hope because part of me prays I’m right and he is here watching over me, waiting to see if I’ll wake so he can pull me into his arms. Fear because there’s a high likelihood that if someone is here, it’s not my demon boyfriend watching me from the foot of my bed. My lungs burn, but I refuse to give in. I wait. And so does the darkness, still and quiet. I press my eyes closed. Nothing changes. The charge in the air dissipates. And I allow my lungs to suck in those desperately needed breaths as quietly as I can manage. I can clearly imagine that scraping sound was from massive leathery wings sliding against the stone floor. The rumble so much like what I’d heard from both Jarron’s and Mr. Vandozer’s monster-like forms while in their most instinct-driven states. But the longer the silence stretches, the more my heart settles. There’s no more scraping. No claws carving the stone. No rumbling growls. Only the gentle whisper of the wind outside the large glass windows feet away. The weight of loneliness and longing retake their place in my heart. Reality settles in my mind that I must have been dreaming. Or at the very least, if someone was here, they are gone now. While that means I’m probably not in immediate danger, it doesn’t mean there isn’t cause for concern. Maybe it was only a dream that felt incredibly realistic. Or maybe I’ll wake to find a message. Just a few weeks ago, I’d been getting strange, cryptic notes regularly, signed “The Jinn.” Will I find another pinned to one of the bedposts? Nailed to the door? Now that I know the true identity of the jinn, it should alleviate some of my fears, but it’s a hell of a lot more complicated than that. I came to Shadow Hills Academy at the beginning of the school year intent on finding my sister’s killer and getting