Perle of Wisdom: Once Upon Academy: Perle & Zeke, #1

An enchanted book. An outbreak of monsters. Welcome to Once Upon Academy... where fairytales are real, and princesses find their happily ever afters.

As the daughter of Beauty and her beloved Beast, it’s no wonder Perle Durand can often be found with her nose stuck in a book. Unfortunately, nothing she has found in any text has helped her learn to control her magic and earn a coveted position as a student of Once Upon Academy.

But when a mysterious librarian gifts Perle a book of runes to help improve her craft, the kind-hearted bookworm is finally able to earn admittance to the school of her dreams. Unfortunately, things aren’t always as they seem. Shortly after arriving at Once Upon Academy, beastly creatures begin to appear, all of them attuned to Perle.

When blame for these occurrences falls on Perle, it’s up to her to unravel the mystery and clear her name. Thankfully, she won’t have to do it alone. With the adventurous son of a giant–slayer, and a brooding wolf shifter by her side, the trio will wield the powers they possess to free the school from a shadow of darkness closing in.

Magical mysticism meets fairy tale lore in Once Upon Academy: Perle of Wisdom by Marie Long!

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Table of Contents

Title Page

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

About the Author

Copyright Information

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Forest birdsong emanated from the black, cat-shaped white-noise device sitting on Perle’s night table.

Perle groaned. Keeping her eyes shut, she rolled over in bed, facing her back to the sounds. Hey, Sara, stop, she muttered groggily to the machine, drawing her knees to her chest in a fetal position.

The birdsong and nature sounds continued, becoming louder and more obnoxious.

Perle cringed. "Hé, Sara, arrête!" she repeated a little louder, this time in French.

Still not opening her eyes, she waited a moment, but when the machine continued to ignore her command, she grumbled, rolled back over, and groped around until her fingers tapped the smooth top of the speaker. A tingling sensation rushed through her fingers and up her arm, and the sound of chirping birds halted with a fizzle and a pungent burning odor.

Perle quickly withdrew her hand and bolted awake. Her black cat, Nuit, who was curled up at her feet, yowled and jumped in shocked fright. His gentle, vibrating warmth at Perle’s feet disappeared.

Perle examined her hands. Tiny electric streaks coursed across her palms then disappeared. She whipped her head around to look at the white-noise machine and noticed a small stream of smoke rising from its speaker. Nooo! She’d damaged three white-noise devices in four months due to her uncontrollable powers. The employees at the local electronics store practically knew her by name from her repeated visits.

Perle yanked the machine off the night table and examined it. Not again, she grumbled, giving the device a shake, hoping to rouse it back to life. After a few moments of turning knobs, flipping switches, and mashing buttons, the serene sound of chirping birds resumed, emitting from the speaker. She exhaled a deep sigh of relief. Thank the stars.

Nuit sat on the fur rug at her bedside and looked up at Perle with curious golden eyes. Then he let out a soft meow.

Smiling apologetically, Perle reached down to touch her pet. It’s okay, Nuit. Her fingers grazed Nuit’s back. His black fur rose, then a spark of static shock stung Perle’s fingertips. Ouch! She winced, rubbing the pain.

Nuit meowed and hissed, then bounded out of Perle’s bedroom. Sunlight filtered through the sheer white curtains and touched Perle’s face in a warm greeting. She basked in the peaceful moment, then her eyes traveled to the red-circled date on her wall calendar.

She gasped. Bookmobile day!

She hopped out of bed, threw on a yellow, flower-printed sundress she blindly grabbed from her closet, and stepped into a pair of matching flats on her way out of her bedroom. Racing toward the kitchen, she bunched her thick, coiled hair back into a bun and secured it with a hair clip. The house was still quiet. Perle figured her parents were still asleep. The two of them had a busy night last night, showing off their newest wines at the annual Foire Aux Vins, one of France’s many esteemed wine-pairing events, which occurred in the neighboring town of Riquewihr.

In the kitchen, Perle retrieved her bagful of books to return and fill a small pouch of freshly picked blueberries from the refrigerator to tide her and Nuit over until they returned later for a proper breakfast. Nuit waited at the front door of the common room. She fed him a blueberry, plopped a few in her mouth as well, then headed out the door. She bounded down the cobblestone stairs, which were lined with flowerpots overflowing with purple irises. A small rose garden sat in the front of the cottage, adding to the colorful appeal of the home’s exterior.

Perle rounded the side of the ivy-covered stone cottage and retrieved her bright-yellow cruiser bike. Come on, Nuit, she called, placing her book bag in the front basket. The cat hopped into the basket as well and nestled in. Perle wheeled the bike toward the main road.

Don’t hog all the space. Perle chuckled. I have four new books I want to get this week.

Nuit meowed in protest.

Perle pedaled as fast as she could, racing along the narrow stretch of road lined with grape vineyards separated by dense forest. Her heart raced as she rode faster, inhaling the pleasant scents of moonflowers and rose blossoms from the endless flower fields she soared past. Fifteen minutes later, she rode into town and headed straight for the distinctive van painted in various abstract colors. The van’s convertible side panels were flipped up, revealing several shelves of different books. A large wooden pop-up sign affixed to the roof of the van read Livres d’amour in bright-red letters.

Thanks to her mother’s book-loving encouragement when Perle was younger, she had always found her own peace and entertainment in the plethora of books she would bring home when the local bookmobile made its bimonthly stop in town.

Nuit hopped out of the basket as Perle leaned her bike against a nearby streetlamp. She grabbed her book bag and rushed toward the growing crowd of local families and children and tourists. She squeezed through the tight crowd, her heart pounding at the thought that she might be too late. The bookshelves were thinning, the closer she maneuvered toward the front. Most of her anticipated titles had been quickly swiped away. The lone librarian, a lithe, beautiful woman in a long, flowing blue dress, stood off to the side holding a tablet computer in her hands, tending to patrons who were ready to check out their books.

Perle’s eyes zeroed in on the spine of one of her anticipated books, The Stars of Envy by one of her favorite authors, Pierre Favreau. She grinned at the prominent gold spine that sparkled in the light like magic. More books left the shelves as she slowly shuffled forward. She never took her eyes off the glittering unicorn symbol that branded all of Favreau’s books. She squeezed and sidled around a small child and reached for the middle shelf.

The sparkling book was suddenly yanked away by another woman, who proceeded