Shadow - Sadie Moss Page 0,2

years and forge ahead with it.

Watch out, world. Here I come.

Chapter 2

I shake the hands of the various professors who were watching me and taking notes, and then I head to my dorm room to take a shower. First, I was sweating from nerves, and then from physical exertion, and now I just know that I stink.

The shower’s relaxing, and I take a little extra time in there to soak up the water. For once, I have nothing to do, nowhere to be. I don’t have homework that’s due or a class to attend. It’s all… blank for the next few days on the calendar.

But only for the next few days, I hope.

My older sister Penelope offered to let me live with her as long as I want if I need some time finding a job, but I’ve applied to a few places already, and I should be hearing back from them shortly. They want to see what my final test scores are, I bet, but my grades are already pretty damn good. I don’t think they should have any reason to not hire me.

I lather my skin with body wash, letting the hot water sluice over my diminutive frame. I’m only five-foot-three, but all the bigger guys in my classes quickly learned to respect my abilities despite the fact that most of them had at least six inches of height on me. I may be little, but I pack a punch.

The heat and steam do wonders for my sore muscles, and by the time I step out, I feel like I could probably run another obstacle course if I had to. I swipe my hand across the mirror to clear away the steam that’s gathered, blinking at the bright green eyes of my reflection. I twist my long, dark hair to wring out the excess water before wrapping a towel around it.

When I finally emerge from the bathroom in a billow of lingering steam, I notice several notifications on my phone. I missed a bunch of texts from Penelope, and from my brother Max too.

Oops. I totally lost track of time. I was supposed to video call them after I got back from my finals.

I shrug on a bathrobe and relax back on my bed before dialing Max’s number. I got a single room for my final semester so that I could focus on studying without any distractions. Not that I’ve got anything against the roommates I’ve had during my time here. They were all great and easy to get along with. But when I found out that a single room had opened up, I jumped at the opportunity.

I know not everyone takes their studies as seriously as I do, and I know it makes me a nerd, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to be able to study at all hours of the day or night without worrying about keeping someone else up.

“Hey!” I wave as Max’s face appears on the screen.

“Hi, Rae.” He grins, pushing his dark hair back from his forehead. He turns his head to one side and calls, “Hey, Pen! It’s Rae.”

Penelope’s face pops onto the screen a moment later, edging Max to the side a little as she beams at me. “Hi, little sis! How’d it go? Do you feel good about it?”

“Yeah, I do.” A flutter of happiness works through my chest as I nod. “Tamlin said it was some of the best spell work she’s ever seen me do, and I know she wouldn’t just blow smoke up my ass.”

“That’s fantastic! Congrats.” Max shifts the phone a little as he speaks, holding it a bit farther away so he and Penelope can both be seen in video more clearly.

I can hear noise in the background of his place. He’s got two boys, Oscar and Caleb, and they’re both little hellions. I love them to absolute pieces. If I were to guess, I’d say they’re charging around the house playing monster or something equally likely to—

“No running in the house!” Max calls over his shoulder, right on cue.

I hear unrepentant giggling, and a grin spreads across my face. “Boys being boys?”

“They’re going to tear this place down one day,” Max replies with a shake of his head. His green eyes, almost the exact same color as mine, twinkle with resigned amusement. “Cassidy and I will be helpless to stop it.”

Cassidy is Max’s wife, and probably the sweetest woman in the entire world. He’s the middle kid, just a couple years older