Demon Accords 8: College Arcane Read Free

waved.
     
    “Tomorrow is Sunday, the day before classes
start. You can spend it as you wish, but I would suggest finding
your classrooms on campus and picking up your books. They are all
bought and paid for, but you will need to visit the college
bookstore and show your ID to get them.
     
    “Next to last, let me introduce our on-site
medical specialist, Dr. Rosewell. She is a gifted general
practitioner with years of experience at Oracle. Please, please see
her if any of you experience any change in health.
     
    “Finally, I’m going to turn the floor over to
one of our sponsors for a few words on behavior.”
     
    Beside me, Caeco suddenly stiffened, as if
startled, then almost instantly relaxed. Her reaction and my
instant awareness of it were the only reasons I didn’t crap my
pants when an iron hand clutched my shoulder. Almost as fast as
Caeco, I knew who it was, maybe by the aura of power or the
steely feel of the hand. The real issue was that I was dead certain
that absolutely no one had been behind us when we sat down.
     
    “That’s my cue. Sorry for the scare, but I
wanted to get a covert look at the group. Kind of hard to do these
days. I’ll chat with you two after,” said a soft voice, one I
recognized immediately. That’s when the most famous man on the
planet stood up from the empty seat behind us and started down the
stairs to the floor below.

Chapter 2
     
    Chris Gordon stepped lightly down the rows,
reaching the bottom before the rest of the kids fully understood
who was among them. Wearing jeans, running shoes, and a
loose-fitting green long-sleeve t-shirt, he nonetheless commanded
attention.
     
    He hugged Gina, then turned and looked at the
audience, who were either stunned or excited or both. He seemed
edgy, not nervous or anxious, but there was something there, an
undercurrent. He smiled as he looked around the room.
     
    “Hi, I’m Chris Gordon and I represent one
half of the partnership that is responsible for this opportunity,”
he said, as if no one in the room had seen a television screen,
newpaper, or magazine cover in the last few months. “I’ll go ahead
and apologize upfront. I believe I’ve met many of you before but
I’ve had a little accident. It seems that my brain met a bullet a
while ago and I haven’t gotten all my memories back yet. They’re
coming slowly, but please don’t be offended if I don’t remember
you.
     
    “With that out of the way, let me welcome you
to college or, as Oracle likes to call it, College Arcane.”
     
    A hand shot up and Chris looked at its owner,
a brown-haired girl with glasses and a super excited look on her
face.
     
    “Ah, yea?” he asked.
     
    “What do the words mean? The ones that make
up ARCANE?” she asked.
     
    “Good question. I had to ask to find out for
myself. Oracle loves this acronym shit… hmm, excuse my language...
oh what the hell, you’re all in college now, right?” The kids all
laughed.
     
    “Anyway, anomalous means rare or
aberrant. Recondite has several meanings: hidden from sight,
not well understood, obscure. Combatives … well, to be frank,
we’re hoping to teach you how to protect yourselves and others.
Lastly, Oracle ranks talents and abilities among the trained and
untrained. The highest untrained ranking is Noble echelon—sort of a
guess at your potential. There, clear as mud, right?”
     
    “What are the trained rankings?” the same
girl asked.
     
    “Gina?” Chris turned.
     
    “Paladin, Knight, and Champion echelons. We
will go over this as we progress throughout the year,” she
said.
     
    “So there you have it… you’re in an academy.
For what? To learn to survive and thrive as representatives of the
supernatural realm. Why would we do this? That part is simple. At
the end of your education, you will be prime candidates for
recruitment by Oracle as operatives, should you chose that route,
or recruitment by the Demidova Corp. Personally I’m more than a bit
biased for the