Grail's Dawn Book Two

By Odette C. Bell

Everything’s complicated. Only one thing is certain. Arthur was never what he seemed.
As Dawn is thrown further into the broken world of magic, she must learn what her mysterious connection to Arthur means. But it won’t be easy. Harlequin, a brutal ministry man, comes to St Teresa’s with an offer to train the students in real combat. He intends to use farlings. It isn’t long until he sets his sights on Dawn. She’ll have to turn to Arthur for help. There’s only one thing he wants to do with her – keep her quiet. But it is much too late for that. Dawn is rising, and nothing will stop her.
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Grail’s Dawn follows a new witch and her destined king fighting a twisted magical academy and a worse fate. If you love your magical academies with action, punch, and a splash of romance, grab Grail’s Dawn Book Two today and soar free with an Odette C. Bell series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Odette C. Bell
• Release date: Sep 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005984366

Book preview

Chapter 1

Arthur keeps pulling me away through the darkness. My eyes are closed, and I expect tears to leak out of them, but they don’t. All I can do is pay attention to his firm grip as it wraps further around my fingers.

I just have to get you out of here, Arthur says. It’s about the third time he’s said it. From the breathy quality of his voice to the exact way he shakes whenever he speaks, this promise is like his lifeline.

Which makes no sense.

Arthur—

I just have to concentrate, okay? There’s a single way out of here. I need to find it before Harlequin finds out you’re not dead.

Who is Harlequin?

The Prison Commissioner. He is responsible for everything you see here.

I—

Over there, Arthur says, relief flooding his voice.

He yanks me to the side. It’s not a hard move, but it sure as hell is desperate.

You wouldn’t need a degree in psychology to map just how terrified he is right now. And judging by the way his hand tightens around mine again, that terror is firmly directed at me.

I have 1,000,001 questions I want to ask him, but I know I can’t.

So I do as he says – and I hold on.

This might be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but I voluntarily tighten my fingers around his. I doubt he even notices.

He drags me across to an apparently nondescript patch of floor. Nondescript, that is, apart from a single scuff mark. It kind of almost looks like a circle.

Letting out a breath of relief, he plunges down to his knees. He wipes the circle with his sleeve until he removes most of the dust.

What is it?

A transport node point. We can use that, he gestures up to the arc around my wrist, to get us out of here. The spell will also disintegrate the bracelet and finally get it off you.

Won’t they try to stop me?

They would’ve assumed you were killed by that farling.

But—

I just need to concentrate. Get down on your knees. He pats the floor beside him.

I do as he says. I frown into his face. My eyes are wide and expressive. They’re like open hands. And the only thing they want to be filled with is answers. But he’s not about to give them.

He gestures for me to settle the arc right down on that point. It’s awkward and I have to get on to my side, but I manage it.

All the while, my mind rages. It goes back to the fight. Specifically, it goes back to that sword….

I didn’t tell Arthur about it. At the time, it was because I was too overcome. Now….

I don’t know. I get that we’re in a pressured situation, but I still have so many questions. He was going to join in with that ritual to kill Wilhelmina. Yet only hours before back at the castle he had pretended that he had no clue Wilhelmina was in trouble.

There’s simply too much I do not understand.

He starts chanting under his breath. It’s low and forceful. It becomes rhythmic, thumping even. It’s like his voice is a drumbeat.

It does not lull me. Absolutely nothing can right now.

I start to feel magic picking up through the bracelet. It pounds down into the floor. I have to clench my teeth. I want to get up, but I know Arthur won’t let me.

Just a little bit longer, he mutters between his forceful incantations.

The room starts to fill with magic.

I’ve already seen the entire thing. The veil of darkness was thrown back when I defeated the farling. But now I appreciate just how large it is. Also how useless it is. It’s just one enormous empty space.

What is this place, anyway?

Hunting ground, he mutters between his chants.

My skin chills. Hunting—

I never get the chance to finish that. I can feel energy picking up through the arc on my wrist. I’m gonna start floating again. Arthur is not about to let me go on my own. He wraps my other hand firmly in his. As he laces his fingers between mine, I stare into his eyes. For a moment, he’s paying no attention. I know I’ve said this before, but I’m going to repeat it – I feel like I can see right down into people’s souls sometimes. I’ve done it with John. Now I do it with Arthur. And I simply have no clue what’s staring back.

Transport, he suddenly roars.

I’m lifted right off my feet now, and Arthur comes with me. As energy and magic waft around us, I keep my eyes open, even though I know this is going to be a damn discombobulating experience. Sure enough, as the transport spell wraps around us, I feel myself not just being spirited away – but broken apart. For a few short seconds, I don’t exist. I become nothing at all.

And yet, regardless of the fact I’m nothing, Arthur is still somehow holding onto me.

The next thing I know, we land down in a hall. I recognize it. It’s the castle. It’s the same grand design.

I don’t get to my feet. Arthur shoots up. Then he turns over his shoulder. That’s when I realize there’s still some kind of portal behind us.

I turn around, but it closes rapidly. I almost think I hear footsteps, though. They make the skin on the back of my neck itch.

I look up at Arthur through chunks of my matted, knotty hair. What—

Answers will come later. Come on. He reaches down to grab my hand. He checks that the arc is now gone from my wrist, which it is. He manages the slightest smile that quickly turns into a frown.

The answers need to come now. What the hell happened? Why are you in that robe? Wilhelmina—

Like I said, she’s dead. I would’ve saved her, but—

I know what he’s gonna say next, and it’s like a slap to the face. But I got involved? My voice vibrates.

I would hardly say you got involved. Bradley, that monster, sent you there. Speaking of which. He pushes his hand out of his long sleeve and crunches it into a fist.

Alarm shoots through me. What are you going to do to him?

Arthur looks at me directly and arches an eyebrow. It’s not an ironic move. It’s clear he simply cannot understand me. That monster sent you straight to Harlequin. You know what Harlequin would’ve done with you, right?

I—

If you hadn’t managed to get out and if you hadn’t met up with me, you’d be dead by now, Dawn. Harlequin wants no less. And Bradley sent you there to die.

But I don’t get it. If Harlequin is from the ministry, then I’m screwed wherever I go. I—

School’s different. Always has been. There are many different factions here. Now Bradley—

What are you gonna do? Just go up to him and kill him? My voice becomes quiet on the word kill.

Arthur looks at me. It’s a really pointed gaze, but I have no clue what it means.

I would hope that by now you realize I’m not that kind of guy. But whatever. Come on. You need to go back to your room.

But my room is trashed. I also disappeared suddenly from the nurse’s office. People will be looking for me.

The faculty will look after you. Most of them, anyway.

It’s hardly a comforting thought. It doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of my questions. They keep multiplying. At this rate, I’m going to explode. I suddenly grip my face. I turn my nails in. I have no clue what’s going on, Arthur. Why—

You’re a Grail. Everything comes back to that, and everything in your life from now on will always come back to that. You’re powerful, Dawn. It’s not that hard.

I hate the brutish way he points that out. I only grip my head harder.

He simply grabs onto one of my hands and pulls it away. You need to pull yourself together now. There’s still a chance that we can get through this. All you have to do is keep your head down.

I drop my other hand. I only do that because he says one little word. We?

What?

You said we could get through this. My voice shakes.

Rather than answer me, he simply pulls me forward.

But I’m sick of being pulled around by Arthur Pendragon. I shove my feet into the floor and pull back hard.

He slowly turns his head to me. Do you have any idea—

If you’re about to berate me, Arthur, just stop. I need answers. Right now. Why do you have two modes around me? Why do you hate me half the time, but you try to protect me whenever—

I’m not going to answer your questions. You only have to do one thing.

I can’t keep my head down, can I? Because people keep coming after me anyway.

They wouldn’t keep coming after you if you didn’t show your power, he says, his exasperation making his voice pitch hard through the hallway. It bounces off the walls.

It’s so powerful a display that I actually shrink back. Not forever. I rush forward like a tidal wave. What have I done so far? I’ve barely been to any classes. So what if I fought Genevieve—

So what if you fought Genevieve? His voice is empty – but only for a fraction of a second. And that just serves to make it even more terrifying. So what if you fought her in front of the head of discipline – and in front of most of the students from your class. So what if, as a new witch of about a day and a half, you beat her, regardless of the fact she’s been training most of her life? Yeah, so what if. Don’t be so stupid, Dawn. If you don’t wake up to the situation soon, it’ll smother you.

His words are so damn brutal.

He goes to pull me forward again, but I won’t even let him grab my hand this time. I back off. You still haven’t told me why you’re in that robe. I—

You want the truth? I thought I had more friends in the ministry. I thought we’d be able to get Wilhelmina out of prison in time. We didn’t and we couldn’t. She’s dead. Now I have to move on.

His words…. It’s like he can’t even feel emotion.

But that can’t be true, because there is nothing but emotion blazing in his eyes. And all of it is directed at me.

I back off until my shoulders strike the wall behind me. I’m shaking. I also know that I’m crying. I think I might’ve been crying ever since we transported. I only become aware of it now. I don’t bother to brush the tears off my cheeks. I—

You don’t need to understand this situation, Dawn. You just need to keep your head down. And run when you can. Don’t fight, he adds, really emphasizing that.

Why?

Do I really need to tell you that?

I look into his eyes. Yeah, he does need to tell me that. Because I do not understand the passion I see in Arthur Pendragon’s gaze. It’s almost like he knows me.

Do you really want to die, Dawn? There he goes again, being brutal. It’s his only way to dodge the emotions practically rupturing his heart.

No, I say quietly.

He reaches his hand out to me. Come on. I’ll get you to a safe room. Then I’ll deal with Bradley. He growls again, and damn is it dark.

I look at his hand. I’m not gonna get my answers, am I? And the longer I stay here, the more danger we’re going to be in. So… reluctantly I turn and walk next to him. I do not let him pull me on.

I proved something to myself tonight. I can fight. I can even defeat a damn farling. I have my own power.

And I will rely on it, and only it, going forward.

Chapter 2

Arthur is true to his word. He finds me a room. I don’t even know what wing of the dormitory it’s in. He opens the door for me. He clearly has access, even though I’m certain only the staff and the person living in a room is meant to have the capacity to open a door. I don’t question him. I walk in. It is a lot less fancy than my room. It just has a bed and a dresser. It has a small en suite bathroom. But that’s it.

I grab my arm and look at him. I—

You keep your head down. You go to class. No more winning fights, he adds. You’ll be the kind of new witch that everyone expects. Do you understand?

I just look at him. My expression is dead. The fatigue of today is mounting upon me. I know Arthur won’t leave until I nod, so I manage a brief move.

He lets out a sigh. It doesn’t affect his shoulders. They’re still up around his ears. It’s as if he’s going to strangle himself with his own taut muscles.

He pauses at the door. He opens his mouth to say something, but he thinks better of it. He turns and walks out. He closes the door behind him.

I just stand there, staring at the room. I’m not really looking at it, though. While my eyes are open, they’re sightless.

It takes too long until I head over to the bed.

I don’t even bother to pull off my dusty, bloody jacket. I fall face down on my pillow. I close my eyes. And for the first time in a long time, I don’t dream. My body just can’t. There’s too much fatigue shaking in my limbs.

In the morning, I wake to the sunshine. I shower and dress.

Not once does a smile crumple my lips. For I don’t have a damn thing to be happy about.

Questions assail me. There are no answers. I’m starting to get the impression that there will never be any answers.

This is going to be my perpetual state from now on. I will be nothing more than embodied confusion walking around waiting to be killed by her enemies.

With that morbid thought, I walk out of my room.

I don’t bother to head down to the dining hall, even though my watch tells me to.

I don’t want to be seen. I’m not even sure if I’m hungry. It’s as if the questions are too expensive a biological process for me to even consider digesting at the moment.

I soon find out which class is next, and I head to it.

It’s history.

I try to sit up the back. Some student sits beside me and starts waxing lyrical about my power, but the entire time, I just stare forward. I ignore the guy. I’m probably rude, but I just… I can’t.

None of the staff members say anything to me. If they know about my escapade last night in the ministry, they either don’t care, or they can’t mention it.

How exactly does that make sense? The ministry is the governing body of all magical creatures, right? Last night, they tried to kill me. But here I am, back at school, and we’re just… ignoring that fact.

I desperately need to talk to Arthur. I don’t see him in my first class. He’s not even in my second class.

I see John a few times, and he always reaches out to me, but I just… walk away.

In the back of my head, I question everything. I remember what John told me. I remember the sincerity in his gaze, too. I try to tell myself I owe him more than this.

But… once more, I just can’t go there.

I’m running on complete empty by the time it reaches the afternoon. There’s only one more class.

It’s defense. I don’t know why it’s been moved to the afternoon. I always thought it was a night class.

I’ve successfully managed to ignore most people throughout the day, but I’m going to have to partner up for defense.

As soon as I walk in the door, it’s to the sight of Twitch. She shoots me a peeved expression. It’s not like I’m late. So I read between the lines and appreciate that she’s not going to let me have an easy class.

I would look like hell. She obviously doesn’t care.

Ah, our aspiring star, she says, putting way too much emphasis on the word aspiring. I heard about your match with our prime Grail yesterday. I thought you could demonstrate it for the class once more. Skills like that are unheard of, she mutters.

Her words are disjointed. Or maybe it’s just my brain. I can’t put two and two together right now. All I can think of are my questions. And the more I repeat them in my head, the more they strangle me.

Speaking of strangling – though my skin is a lot better today, I still have injuries along my throat.

No one seems to care.

This school is… it’s like an asylum. But the maddest person here is me. Because you could not face a situation like this and participate in it. An ordinary person would have run screaming by now. I just stand here.

Twitch clicks her fingers, and Genevieve comes out of the crowd.

I open my eyes wider, realizing that if Genevieve’s around, Arthur probably is, too.

But as I search the crowd for him, I don’t see anything.

Genevieve clearly sees my expression, though.

What are you looking for? Arthur’s not here to save you this time, she hisses.

Really, this time? Did she forget what happened last time? Arthur saved her from me.

I….

I can’t let the anger ignite in my gut.

So I just face her.

Twitch says some things. I don’t even listen.

The next thing I know, Twitch is calling the match.

I just stand there.

Genevieve is relentless. She pushes toward me, and soon she has me on my back. She punches me in the gut.

She is not holding back. She’s also using magic. As it sinks into me, I close my eyes briefly.

I’m back – back in front of that castle. I know exactly how easy it would be to walk inside and close the door. Then I’d be able to access my soul weapon again.

But I don’t.

Twitch calls another match. I stagger to my feet.

I don’t do anything. I don’t dodge. Hell, I barely think.

Genevieve comes at me once more, and this time she punches me right in the face. She uses all her force, and my nose splatters with blood.

It trails down my lips.

I fall onto my ass, and it takes me too long to pull myself back up.

Twitch looks triumphant. Obviously this fight is reinforcing everything she already thought.

As for the students who’ve gathered around – they just looked confused. Some of them are rooting for Genevieve – the rest of them are just looking at me, clearly waiting for me to begin.

I don’t.

This will be the last match, Twitch snarls. The winner will be decided. Go.

I have a moment. Time slows down a little. I see Genevieve. She launches toward me. She’s covered in magic.

All I would have to do to defeat her right now would be to dodge to the side. She doesn’t pay enough attention to other people during battles. She’s all grunt. But she doesn’t have the sheer power to actually fight that way.

But the moment comes and the moment passes. She reaches me. She knocks me flat on my ass, and she punches me across the jaw. There’s a ringing in my skull. As my head flops down and more blood splatters out of my nose, my face twists to the side. And there, in the doorway, I see Arthur. His arms are crossed, and he’s looking right at me. Does he care about the fact that I’ve just been punched three times by his girlfriend? Does any compassion whatsoever loosen his expression? No.

He just stares at me with that dead flat gaze. It’s as if he couldn’t care less that I’m currently gushing from my nose.

Just as Twitch calls the match, I see him walk away.

For the rest of the class, I’m paired with Twitch herself. It’s brutal. But at the same time, it’s easy. All I have to do is put up with the pain, and I can get through it.

Or at least, I can get through this class.

How long until another staff member goes after me? What about Harlequin? Is he really going to leave it at that? He had me in his grasp, but I got away.

I….

When the class is over, I’m literally covered in blood. It’s all over my face, and it’s right down my front.

You’d think that I’d be rolling around on the ground, groaning, but I’m not. I barely made a single sound all class.

No one seems to care. No – that’s not right. I do catch sight of a friendly face. It’s not John, and it sure as hell isn’t Arthur. It’s Lucy. She’s right up the back. She crosses her arms and winces for me. She doesn’t say anything, and she doesn’t come over to see if I’m okay, but that wince still means something.

I scratch my head and push my blood-caked hair out of my eyes.

Get yourself cleaned up, Cooper, Twitch snaps. We’re down a nurse at the moment, so you’ll just have to take some healing water instead. She walks over to the side of the room, rustles around in a cupboard, then throws something at me.

I catch it.

She doesn’t tell me how to take it. She just walks out of the room.

Genevieve shoots me a triumphant glare. She’s with a gaggle of other girls. I can tell they are her groupies. She walks past me, and she shoves into my shoulder as she does. I knew the other day was a fluke. Don’t mess with me again. And stay away from Arthur, she snarls.

I just stare at her.

I hold the bottle. I turn around to ask someone – anyone how to take it – but the room is now empty.

So I stand there.

What do I do now? Do I go back to that little broom cupboard of a room Arthur found for me? Technically, the day is over.

I’m hungry, and my stomach is grumbling, but I just can’t go to the dining hall.

I morosely walk out of the room.

Most of the students have already walked off. That’s better than having to run through the gauntlet of their stares.

I keep clutching hold of the potion bottle. I stare down at it, but I make no move to uncork it.

I walk forward aimlessly. More blood splatters down my face.

I stare at it. Isn’t it meant to be dangerous? Isn’t it meant to attract the wrong kinds of creatures? Whenever Bradley dealt with it, he burnt it.

… Or did he? For all I know, they could’ve been transport spells, and he could’ve been sending my blood to Harlequin.

I wince.

That’s when I feel a hand settling on my shoulder. It’s a warm, gentle grip.

My stupid body tells me it’s Arthur. So I don’t control my expression as I turn.