a/n – I felt like the first sneak peek was a bit boring, so I cut it down and added a little more!
Here it is for those of you who are particularly greedy!
New sneak peek
AU Nikola’s POV
He’s whistling.
My world is on fire, my Hagen is upset with me, and yet, when he enters his home and tosses his keys into the waiting bowl, he is whistling.
He turns on the lights, toes off his shoes, sets his briefcase down and makes it five whole steps inside the den before he notices me. He screeches, wings spreading out behind him.
My magic neuters the sound.
“WHAT IN GODS—” He sputters over his terror, arms rising in delayed time. “HOW DID YOU—”
“We will have to discuss the faculties’ awareness whilst Hagen and I are here,” I state while I feather my finger over Knots’ scales. “Deciding Faculty or not, that was abysmal.”
The man stares at me, mouth agape and struggling to close. He thinks, visibly, and so I see the moment it clicks.
“You…” he begins, whispering now. Shock has given way to fear and something far more primal as he takes a step back. “You are Nikola Amorenia.”
“So you know me,” I whisper as I rise from my seat, allowing Knots to spill onto the floor around me. “You know my name, and yet, I still have heard no word about my invitation.”
“Y-Your invitation,” the phoenix sputters, orange eyes wild.
“I have asked politely.” I step forward. “I have sent letters of both recommendation and achievement.” The man stumbles back. “I have visited in person, not once, not twice, but six times, and still… no word.”
His eyes shift to the entryway he’d come through and by the time they return to me, I fill the space in front of him. He shrieks again.
OG Sneak peek
AU Nikola’s POV
I am not sure what gives me pause.
The penmanship, the outdated stamps in the corner, or the complete lack of a scent where one should naturally cling to its edges. Whichever it is, it encourages me to turn it around.
I regret my curiosity immediately.
A single wax stamp waits at the back. A stamp I recognise immediately.
The Academy.
For most, this would be a trophy to show off for generations. For Hagen, it very might well be.
The Academy was the supernatural world’s most prestigious and exclusive learning school, with a history as rich as its connections. It was no secret that they had been gunning for a member of the Heil-Calderon family to fall under their tutelage, but such matters had never mattered to me.
Not until now. Not until it came to him.
Now, I hold a letter of invitation in my hands with his name on it, and the promise of a grand but distant future waiting inside.
The seal breaks.
I do not remember breaking it. I do not even remember moving, but I must have at some point, must’ve reacted because the wax is split down its centre and the paper crinkles tellingly beneath my clenched fingers.
Hagen moves overhead, and my heart lurches, but it is nothing as pure as it had been this morning.
What spurs the irregularity this time is something far more erratic and slimy, and it is that foreign sensation that spreads inside of me as I try to seal it back together, but some hidden magic within resists mine.
I stifle a curse. The damned Academy.
Hagen’s steps thump above, and my pulse rises in my ears to match.
I try harder, pouring my magic into the package to overwhelm the one it holds, but all that does is wither the wax’s edges so that it is ready to testify to Hagen that I had snooped when I had not even. Yet.
All I had done was hold it, and now—
“Alright! Get that spell cooking!” Hagen shouts as he rushes down the stairs.
I shove the letter into my void before he reaches the last one, and all evidence of its existence with it.
My heart becomes a battering ram within my chest.
Hagen races towards me, head ducked inside the duffel he is still trying to stuff. He is distracted and should remain so, but when he stops in front of me and raises his head, his gaze immediately settles on the stack of mail piled atop his table.
The one that is missing one envelope.
He frowns. Saint meows. My heart sinks like stone.
Nik barely started and he already caught llmfaooooo
Thoughts??????
Thoughts on Nik being Nik, even in another universe??? On a glimpse at domestic Hagen???
I love these two in any setting, but it’s really cute writing about them in this world where they’re still figuring things out and its sooo much fun to see AU Nik realise he’s lowkey a psycho in real time lmfaooooo
We’re aiming for a weekend upload for this one so keep your eyes and ears peeled!
It’ll be available for the Rose Gold and Gold tiers and if you want to follow their story before this extra, check their past extras in the AU Tag!
Love you all,
Tippy
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