by Lucia Ashta
“She’s alive?” Irving cried out in matching disbelief, and I wondered what had happened that they should believe I hadn’t survived.
Liana sprinted toward me, skidding onto the ground next to me, snatching me from Quinn’s arms and holding me to her. “You scared the crap out of me, S. Don’t you ever do that shit again.”
Stunned, I nodded at her, my long hair trailing the forest floor behind me. “I didn’t…” I cleared my throat. “I didn’t mean to do anything to scare you.”
“Well, you did. You scared all of us. Well, maybe not the old hag. I think she’s just disappointed she hasn’t gotten to kill you.”
I gasped. I’d long known Liana’s thoughts toward Mulunu, but she was usually careful to keep them from the sea witch. It seemed my best friend no longer cared. Anger shimmered in her tawny eyes, convincing me that she would have tried to punish Mulunu if I hadn’t returned to her—and then Mulunu would have punished her, and I would have lost my best friend forever.
“How many times do I have to tell you slug brains that I only kill when I have to?” Mulunu hollered, shaking off Irving and Brogan, and snatching up the fallen half of her staff to clutch it in her free hand.
“Enough times for us to believe you,” Liana snapped. “And right now I sure as hell don’t. You look pissed that she’s alive, for Neptune’s sake!”
“I’m not pissed, you stupid child.”
She sure looked it…
Mulunu rounded on Brogan. His chest was bare, and beneath the illumination of the moon, I could make out the wounds marring his shoulder and abdomen. I suspected similar scars probably marked his thighs beneath his jeans. They were thick and ropy, but he stood tall, his shoulders squared to the witch, who had him in her sights.
“You,” she spat, pointing the lower half of her staff at him. “You broke my staff.” Her accusation was a low, dangerous rumble.
But before Brogan could say anything, Irving stepped between the two of them again. “He did what he had to do to keep you from attacking. You were out of control, Mulunu, and someone of your wisdom and experience should damn well know it.”
“You dare...?” Mulunu’s nostrils flared. “I was not out of control, I was doing what all of you were too weak to do. Selene and Quinn’s power is too wild, too dangerous. You all know it. They need to die, and the longer we drag it out, the worse it’ll be … for all of us.”
Mordecai tugged pensively on his beard. “Maybe Irving is right. Maybe you are out of control.”
“Excuse me?” Though her voice was higher-pitched than I’d ever heard it, there was no mistaking the danger rumbling through it.
But Mordecai didn’t react to her implicit threat. Once more he seemed … curious. “Have you not noticed that the magic of the two children has settled?”
“It hasn’t settled,” she retorted right away, but when she turned to study Quinn and me, her brows rose in surprise. “How? Their magic is too wild, too great, fighting against itself. It’s not possible…”
“But obviously Selene did,” Sir Lancelot said. The little owl perched on Egan’s shoulder, beaming at me. “And that’s all that was needed.”
“Because the girl possesses the angel magic of Raziel, an angel of the First Celestial Order. Even now, is it safe to allow her to continue? When she doesn’t possess the self-control necessary to—”
“Mulunu,” Irving said with a deep scowl. “Just stuff it, will ya? Let us enjoy the victory while we have it. Odds were as heavily pitted against these two as they get. Right now, this is a win, and in the world of magic and its creatures, there are far too few of those lately.”
“So you’re just going to let them be … a danger to the entire supernatural community? To humans?”
Irving barked a laugh. “As if you care about the communities outside of your clan.”
“I do.” She spun a half of her staff in each hand, fierce eyes pinned on Irving.
For his part, he didn’t flinch. “Leave them alone, or you’ll have all of us to deal with.”
I didn’t think he’d discussed this with anyone else gathered there, but none of them seemed to mind. Most of them nodded their agreement; the others snarled at the sea witch.
Finally, she flung her hands in the air, and both halves of her broken staff emitted sparks the color of the ocean. “Fine. Fine! But if Selene and Quinn blow up and kill all of you, you’ll have only yourselves to blame. Everything that happens from here on out is on you.” First she pinned Irving in her glare, then Sir Lancelot, the wizard brothers, and finally she did a general sweep of the rest of them, including Nancy and Melinda, who’d been drawn out of the healing room by all the shouting and probably her missing patients.
Mordecai nodded sharply. “Journey well, Mulunu, great sea witch and leader of the Kunu Clan.”
“It was an … interesting turn of events that allowed us the pleasure of meeting a witch of your reputation,” Albacus said.
The wizards’ formalities appeared to somewhat mollify the edge to her anger. When she returned her attention to Liana, her scowl wasn’t quite as deep as it had been. “Come now, Liana. We have to retrieve Trina before returning to the Kunus. We can address your insubordination while we travel.”
Liana gulped loudly. “Uh, um…”
“Come on,” Mulunu snapped. “I’ve wasted enough time on Selene to last me. Orelia is going to owe me big-time.”
That was the barnacle that snapped the whale’s back. I was used to Mulunu treating me like moss growing on her backside, but my mother? All my mama had ever done was protect me. It took a lot of guts to threaten to sic Raziel on the clan, but my mama probably wouldn’t have even hesitated.
I climbed to my feet, brushing off Quinn and Liana’s concern as they both reached for me. When I stood, I was grateful I didn’t wobble or waver. My magic within felt balanced. I was whole and at one with my power.
As I stared deep into Mulunu’s eyes, she noticed, and she started slightly.
“You will not mess with my mother. She’s done nothing but protect her daughter from you. If she had to threaten you to keep you from harming me, then you should ask yourself why a member of your clan, and a powerful one, should feel the need to threaten you with force in order to protect another Kunu. When I was a child, I was your responsibility to protect.”
“You never belonged among the Kunus.”
Though her admission stung, I simply nodded. “Yes, I see that now.”
When I delayed, Mulunu called to Liana once more.
“About Liana…”
“Don’t even start, Selene. She’s a Kunu, and she belongs with the Kunus. Her responsibility is to teach the younger generations. Her only reason in coming along on this mission was to learn more about landlubbers so she could teach the little ones about the dangers of life on land.”
“You’ve been one of the greatest dangers I’ve encountered since arriving here. And now I don’t trust Liana will be safe if she goes with you.”
She chuckled without mirth. “What reason could I have to harm Liana? Someday you’ll learn to believe what I say. I mean no unnecessary harm. I am a protector of the Kunus, but also of the world of magic in general.”
I sensed Liana standing and moving behind me. “I want to stay,” she said, and my heart twisted at hearing my spunky friend sound so timid. I understood though. Mulunu had always scared me … until now.
“And what will you do, Liana?” Mulunu pressed. “You don’t belong on land. There’s no place for you here.”
“There’ll always be a place for her with me,” I said.
Mulunu barked with harsh laughter. “And where is your place now, girl? You don’t even have one.”
“Her place is with me,” Quinn said, slipping his arm around my waist without any hesitation. He no longer feared what might come from our connection, and that realization sent excited tingles racing through me.
“I believe,” Mordecai said, ambling forward with both hands clasped behind h
is back, “that there is a place for all of them here at the academy.”
“Excuse me, Lord Mordecai,” Sir Lancelot piped up, sounding deeply shocked. “But the Academy Spell hasn’t offered any of them admission, not even Lady Selene.”
“Hmm, I believe you’re right, brother,” Albacus said instead of addressing the owl headmaster. “They are a very good fit.”
“Who?” Sir Lancelot asked.
“You, you, you, and you.” Albacus pointed to Quinn, Liana, Brogan, and me, while Mordecai grinned.
“But…” the owl spluttered in a rare display of lack of composure. “The spell—all new recruits are allowed to attend the school only if the Academy Spell has invited them after deeming them a good fit for the student body and teachings of the school.”
“That’s right,” Mordecai said around a smile peeking out around his mustache and long beard. “But we crafted the Academy Spell.”
Albacus nodded. “We set it up, and in fact, we just fine-tuned it.”
“Which means we are the spell—essentially—and I have a very good feeling about these four students.”
Mordecai was already calling us students; my heart was thumping wildly in my chest. Quinn and me, and Liana and Brogan? I hadn’t even dared to wish for something that seemed as impossible as this.
“I, too, have an excellent feeling about them,” Albacus added. “So it’s settled.”
The owl shook his little head, blinking repeatedly as if to clear his shock. “If you say so, Milords, then most definitely. It’d be my honor to have these four students as part of the academy.”
Silence clung heavily to the moonlight dusting the clearing with shadows until Fianna zoomed over and flicked me on the ear. “They’re waiting for you to agree, ding dongs. Do you want to attend the academy or not?” she asked Quinn, Liana, and me, and then swung around to include Brogan, who still stood next to Irving and Mulunu.
All at once, we scrambled to speak over each other, until Nessa chuckled like bells next to my other ear. “One at a time, sillies.”
So one at a time, we took turns accepting our unexpected admission to the finest institution for magical creatures in the entire world. My heart was so buoyant that there was a real possibility I might float as I clutched Quinn’s hand, marveling in the warmth of his touch.
He and I would be together. We’d learn all there was to learn about ourselves and our magic. I wouldn’t have to do without my best friend, and she wouldn’t have to forgo whatever romance was clearly burgeoning between her and the valiant polar bear shifter.
“Liana has duties to the tribe,” Mulunu started, and Sir Lancelot groaned in a most un-Sir-Lancelot-like fashion. I caught Mordecai rolling his eyes too, and had to stifle a laugh at the unexpected expression on a translucent wizard who was older than I could fathom.
Irving, however, was the one to intervene.
“Let it go, Mulunu,” he said. “This isn’t a fight you need to wage. Allow the children to be happy. They’ll be monitored here, and taught to use their magic safely.”
I arched my brow at Irving, who’d been so adamant about Fianna and Nessa not bringing me to the academy at the start. He noticed and shrugged. “Times change, lass. This is where you’ll be safest, and where you’ll receive the most help. Besides, Quinn will keep me abreast of everything, won’t you, Q?”
“Of course … Father,” Quinn said, and Irving stiffened, his muscles hard and rigid under the silver moonlight.
“What did you say?”
“I called you father, since you’re the one who raised me after all, the one who took risks to keep me alive. If I can never go in search of my birth father, then I’d like you to be my father. If that’s all right with you, that is, uh, of course.”
Irving still hadn’t so much as batted an eyelash.
Quinn ran his free hand through his hair before letting it plop against his side. “Or we can just go back to the way it was before. I can call you Uncle Irving like I always have, no problem. I don’t mind—”
In five long, purposeful strides, Irving crossed the distance between Quinn and him and pulled him into his open arms. He squeezed Quinn so hard that his back popped. Blinking back tears, the fierce, burly shifter cleared his throat a few times while thumping Quinn on the back.
“There’s nothing I’d like more, my son.” His voice cracked, and he squeezed Quinn some more, until Quinn finally laughed and announced that he couldn’t breathe.
Joyful chuckles swept around our group. Irving released Quinn, while I swiped at the tears brimming in my eyes. Even Mulunu’s eyes were soft, making me wonder what she was really all about. I’d seen her do kindnesses as often as I’d seen her do their opposites.
“Liana, you may remain,” she announced abruptly. “You can be their problem. I have to hurry anyway. Orelia won’t be able to rule the clan for long.”
Though of course my mother was capable of keeping the Kunus in line for some more time still, Liana nodded, eyes wide and shining. “Thank you, Mulunu,” she whispered.
The sea witch waved a hand as if Liana didn’t matter to her one way or another, but now I didn’t think that was true anymore. “I’m off. I need to see about repairing my staff.” She growled at Brogan, who shrugged by way of a half-hearted apology.
“You won’t harm my mother,” I announced, and she scoffed.
“Will you never learn, child? Do you not hear me when I speak to you? Besides, Orelia is fiercer than she looks. She won’t let me harm her.”
Oh, Orelia was definitely fierce, especially when she was in mama whale mode. It was good that Mulunu recognized that.
With snappy nods to everyone else, Mulunu turned on her heel and sauntered deeper into the forest. I gazed up into Quinn’s waiting eyes, still struggling to believe our sudden good fortune, and when I looked back, Mulunu had vanished from sight.
“So…” Brogan finally said, interrupting the pleasant silence. “What now?” He looked across all of us there—the wizard brothers, the owl headmaster, his fairy assistants, the pegataur instructor, Nancy, Melinda, Irving, Quinn, me, and last of all, Liana. He settled his gaze on her and didn’t move it until she blushed.
“Well, as it’s summer vacation for the Menagerie, I’m not exactly sure,” Sir Lancelot replied. “Lords Mordecai and Albacus, I suspect you might have an idea.”
“Indeed, Sir Lancelot,” Mordecai said. “Though the Voice talks of peace, my brother and I don’t trust their efforts are as sincere as they would have us believe.”
Albacus nodded his agreement to the clinking of beads. “That’s right. The rebel faction of creatures and mages has proven to possess a broken moral compass.”
“The new students will need to prepare for the semester ahead. I believe them all to be eighteen years old already”—he waited until Quinn, Brogan, Liana, and I nodded—“and so they’ll begin as oners. They need all the lessons our fine instructors can offer them. And though the academy and its sister institutions are still the safest for our students, I don’t believe there is such a thing as safe anymore—anywhere in the world.”
“I don’t believe there is either,” Albacus said. “Always there have been factions seeking power that doesn’t belong to them. This doesn’t seem to have changed with the centuries.”
“The new students should study over the summer so they can be as prepared as possible for the upcoming semester,” Mordecai said. “No skill is wasted once learned.”
“Exactly,” Abacus said. “Sir Lancelot, what fine instructor could you assign to help these students?”
When the owl’s wide, bright yellow eyes alighted on Egan, I groaned, not bothering to soften my reaction.
The pegataur snorted with amusement before facing the owl. “Whatever you need of me, headmaster.”
I groaned again, only on the inside this time. I’d thought my days of having Egan beat up on me in the guise of training were over.
“Then it’s settled,” Sir Lancelot said. “Egan will train
them, and Fianna and Nessa will assist.”
“Yes, Sir Lancelot,” Nessa affirmed right away, always eager to please the owl.
Fianna, however, despite her evident admiration for the owl, peered at the four of us through narrowed eyes before turning to Egan. “Does this mean I’ll have to get up in the middle of the night again … for the entire summer?”
“Dawn is not the middle of the night,” Egan corrected.
The little fairy crossed half the distance between them before stopping to cross her arms over her little chest, her wings a blur behind her. “You showed up at our house at predawn, Egan. That’s the middle of the night in my book.”
“Then your book is incorrect.”
“Oh boy,” Nessa murmured under her breath. “It seems I’m back to being peacekeeper.” But as she flew toward her diminutive cousin, I couldn’t help but think the sapphire fairy relished the role.
“Lady Nancy…?” Sir Lancelot said.
“Sir?” the staff witch answered.
“I trust you’ll be able to set up appropriate housing for our new students to occupy during the summer break.”
“Yes, sir, not a problem.”
“You’ll separate them so there’s no … funny business, of course.”
Nancy smiled slightly. “Of course, Sir Lancelot.”
“Good. Lord Brogan, I trust you’ll be able to secure permission from your alpha to attend the Menagerie?”
“I believe so, sir,” Brogan answered right away.
“Then it’s all settled,” Sir Lancelot said. “Lords Albacus and Mordecai, shall we retire to my study? Knowing you, undoubtedly you’re eager to discuss Selene’s unusual use of magic.”
The brothers’ eyes widened at the same time. “Oh, no doubt,” Mordecai said.
Albacus added, “So fascinating, that. It was so much like Clara’s magic, but it felt different, wouldn’t you say, brother?”
“I would. It was as if…”
Their voices began to fade as they half walked, half hovered over the ground as they followed Sir Lancelot’s flight back in the direction of the campus … the campus I’d finally get to be part of.