by Tara West
By the time she finished, her finger throbbed and blood dripped down her wrist. She grasped her wand and silently asked it to heal her, sighing in relief when the pain stopped. There was a blood stain on her suede boot. Those boots had cost two thousand merlins. She zapped the stain with her wand, smiling when it disappeared.
The matron snickered at Serah’s wand. “Follow me.” She tapped dark chestnut panels on a wall, and it split open, revealing a secret tunnel.
Serah hesitated. “But my bags.”
Dame Doublewart’s eyes became cold, unreadable. “You won’t need them. You’ll be issued a uniform after detention.”
A uniform? She made a face. At her old school, the only dress code was an unspoken one: dress like you had money. Needless to say, Serah had exemplified proper dress code. She couldn’t imagine being forced to wear some starchy polyester or cotton-blend monstrosity.
“Of course I need them.” She looked at Dame Doublewart as if she’d grown a second head. “My grandfather just bought me those bags from Elysian.”
Ignoring her distress, the matron impatiently waggled her fingers. “Your wand.”
Clutching her wand to her side, Serah took a big step back. “My wand?”
“We don’t allow Goldenwands at Doublewart’s. Every student is issued a standard PF Wand.”
“A Pegasus Feather Wand?” Hysterical laughter bubbled from her throat. “Those are so last century.”
“I know, which is how I like it.” Doublewart flashed a smile so tight, her face looked ready to crack. “Forces our students to think for themselves instead of relying on their wands to do all the work for them.”
Serah cocked a hand on her hip. This woman had definitely lost her mind. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.” Doublewart lunged forward and snatched Serah’s wand before she had time to react. “You’ll get it back after graduation.”
She threw up her hands. “What a load of crap.” She had no right to take away her wand, considering the resolution Parliament was about to pass, requiring all schools to use the current Goldenwands.
“Tsk, tsk. You should’ve read our wand policy before signing the contract.” Doublewart wagged a finger in Serah’s face, and that’s when she noticed what appeared to be two black bugs stuck to her fingernail. Gross. Why hadn’t she noticed before? What a horrible place to have warts.
“I’ve changed my mind.” Holding up both hands, she backed up another step. No way in Hades was she attending a school that refused to use her grandfather’s wands. He’d understand why she had to drop out.
“Too late,” Doublewart shrugged. “You signed.”
“Well, unsign it.” She held out her hand. “And give me back my wand.”
Doublewart waved her big ugly wand at Serah’s hands and feet, binding her in place. She tried to scream, but the woman sealed her mouth with another spell.
She flashed an evil grin. “Enjoy your stay in detention, Miss Goldenwand.”
With one flick of the wrist, Serah was swept off her feet and traveling along the corridor at breakneck speed. Suddenly the bindings snapped off her limbs and mouth, and she screamed as she went over a chasm into pitch black.
She hit soft ground with a thud and groaned as she spit out a mouthful of dirt. Sitting up, she wished she had her wand for illumination. Wherever she was, she could distinctly hear water. After checking her earlobes to make sure she hadn’t lost an earring, she stood and brushed dirt off her clothes, then picked debris out of her palms. That’s when she noticed the emerald bracelet Prometheus had given her had fallen off. She fell back on her knees, frantically searching for it to no avail. It was all she had left of him. Releasing a shaky breath, she told herself it was for the best. He was never going to be part of her life again, so why keep mementos to pine over? Besides, the gems were fake. No way could he afford real emeralds on his salary. She didn’t need that ugly bracelet and was glad it was gone. That’s what she kept telling herself anyway.
She got to her feet, squinting at a pinprick of light above her. The light grew brighter, illuminating the uneven cavern walls.
“Hello! Can anyone help me?” she called, disappointed when the only answer was her own voice echoing back.
Stumbling forward, she came to the edge of inky black water that splashed the rocks under her feet. She rubbed warmth into her arms as goose bumps pricked her flesh. She’d landed on a small island rising up from the cavern floor no more than twenty feet in diameter, and she could make out the shapes of triangular dorsal fins moving in circles around her. Though she was an expert swimmer, thanks to her siren blood, no way was she getting in that water.
What kind of fucked up detention was this, and how in Hades was she going to escape this school?
SERAH HUGGED HER KNEES to her chest, trying not to wince every time a shark splashed her. They were magical illusions. They had to be. Sharks the size of elephants didn’t swim in shallow water. Not to mention their teeth were disproportionately long, making them look like sabertooth fish. She had no idea how long she was supposed to serve detention, but as soon as she got out of there, she would call her grandfather and demand he come get her. There had to be another school that would take her, with enough financial incentive. No way could she survive a semester in this hellhole.
“Hello, there. You called for help?”
She blinked at the oddest thing she’d ever seen—three drop-dead gorgeous guys, smiling at her from inside a giant, translucent bubble that hovered about three feet off the ground. She rubbed her eyes, then blinked again. They were still there, still gorgeous, with their rippling tanned muscles, thick, black hair, and broad smiles. They looked like ancient Greek gods who had descended from Mount Olympus.
She slowly came to her knees. “Hello?”
The tallest of the three, wearing jeans tight enough to reveal a beefy bulge that proved he definitely didn’t need to drive a fast broom or monster truck, smiled while palming a longneck beer. “You don’t look like you’re enjoying your detention.”
She scratched the back of her head, squinting at him. “Ya think?”
He crossed muscular arms, slanting a knowing grin. “Need a lift?”
“In that thing?” She jumped to her feet and backed away from the bubble. “What if it pops?”
“It won’t pop.” The stud standing next to him, wearing nothing but boxer shorts and an unbuttoned dress shirt, jumped up and down, his bare feet making deep indentations in the bubble. “See?” He pushed his wire spectacles up the bridge of his nose, a gesture that reminded her too much of Professor Periwinkle.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
The tallest stud nodded at the cave wall. “To the next dungeon over. We’ve got detention, too.”
They had detention? They didn’t look like high school boys. They looked to be in their early twenties. Tall stud even had a full beard.
It didn’t matter how old they were. Floating in a bubble with three good-looking guys was a far cry better than her current situation. Unless, of course, Grandfather found out. “What if we get caught?”
“We won’t,” the one wearing navy sweats said, his cheeks flushing, making him look adorably sexy. “They’re not coming for us until morning.”
That Doublewart bitch was more sadistic than Serah had realized. “I have to spend all night here?”
“Not if you come with us.” Bearded Guy held up his beer. “We’ve got music and drinks.”
Please say yes! the siren inside her begged.
“Come on,” Boxer Shorts said. “You don’t want to spend all night there, do you?”
Serah grimaced. She feared these guys could be a trick of the imagination, a tempting illusion sent by Dame Doublewart to make her hellish stay in detention even more miserable. When Boxer Shorts poked through the bubble, holding out a hand, she drew back, apprehension twisting a knot in her gut.
“We won’t bite,” he said with a wink.
“Unless you want us to,” Bearded
Guy added.
Fuck yeah, she wanted them to, and that was the problem. She’d repressed her siren until Periwinkle had revealed her inner goddess, introducing her to the carnal pleasures she’d denied herself too long. Now that her siren was awakened, Serah didn’t know how to put her back or even if she wanted to. Grandfather would be so disappointed.
Go to them, Serah, her siren hissed, releasing a wave of pheromones that nearly swept her under lust’s tide. Gritting her teeth, she reached for her savior’s hand, praying to the goddess these men weren’t an illusion. If she did end up sleeping with them, she hoped Grandfather never found out.
DORIS DOUBLEWART DIDN’T know if she was more worried or relieved. Apprehensive, definitely. Why had she admitted this girl into her school?
Half a million merlins, that’s why.
She pressed the intercom button on her ancient landline. “Lady Hoofenmouth, will you please come to my office?” She waited anxiously, listening for the heavy footsteps of the one woman whose opinion mattered most. Clenching her teeth, she grabbed her coffee cup when thunderous stomping rattled her desk.
The door swung open, slamming into the wall with a thud. Athena Hoofenmouth looked like a bull ready to charge as she stared her down. “What took you so long?”
Doris slowly stood, smoothing invisible wrinkles out of her gray, polyester slacks. “I was showing our new student to the dungeon.”
Steam poured from Athena’s flared nostrils, and her pupils turned red. “I thought you weren’t going to admit her.”
Trolls were notorious for their short tempers, and though Doris loved Athena, she also feared her ever-changing moods. She instead pulled out the deposit slip she’d been keeping in her desk since this morning and waved it in Athena’s face.
Doris’s breath hitched when Athena snatched it from her hands, glowering at the slip of paper attached to a carbon copy of the check with Nathaniel Goldenwand’s signature scrawled across the bottom.
Athena frowned. “What’s this?”
Doris cleared her throat, summoning the courage to face her lover. “Half a million merlins from Lord Goldenwand.”
“Great goblin gonads!” Athena shrieked, dropping the paper on the floor.
Doris snatched her wand and used it to retrieve the receipt, zapping it back into the safe under her desk. She’d be a nervous wreck until the money cleared the bank.
“No wonder you admitted her.” Athena rubbed her hands together and licked her lips. “We could retire to Elysian.”
Doris sighed. “Or build a bigger and better school.”
Athena’s eyes glazed over as if she was lost in a dream. “Or travel all four realms.”
Doris cleared her throat. “Or remodel the gymnasium.”
“Doris,” Athena said with a groan, stomping her foot so hard, the cuckoo clocks rattled against the wall. “I’m tired of school life.”
A heavy weight settled on Doris’s chest. Athena knew how much the school meant to her. How could she expect her to just walk away? She fought to keep the edge of panic from her voice. “But this has been my dream.”
A look of pity flashed in Athena’s eyes, making Doris’s heart sink to the pit of her second stomach.
Athena shook her head, snickering. “Even after Resolution 424 passes?”
Doris gritted her teeth. “It won’t pass.” A nagging voice in the back of her head told her it would, though, and then what? Would she shut down her school rather than violate her one golden rule? Mandatory Goldenwands for all students assured her they’d never learn another thing.
Athena’s black eyes hardened. “Goldenwand owns everyone. Now he owns you.”
Doris stiffened. “Nobody owns me. He told me his granddaughter was not to spend her first night in detention, but did I listen?” Even Goldenwand’s goon who’d delivered the check had insisted that the heiress wasn’t to serve detention. Doris simply scowled at him but refused to give him an answer.
Athena tilted her head, that ridiculous pink bow flopping sideways like an extra set of ears. “Really?”
“It’s just a semester.” Doris’s voice sounded small even to her ears.
Athena cocked a brow. “She must pass.”
“She will.” She had to. Doris was not prepared to give back that check.
Athena’s heavy brow lowered over her eyes. “A girl that pretty doesn’t care about education.”
A surge of jealousy flooded Doris’s chest. “You think she’s pretty?” she snapped, unable to keep the hurt form her voice.
Athena rolled her eyes. “I’m not blind.”
Doris had known when she’d fallen for Athena that the troll had a wandering eye. How could she not, after her relationship with the beautiful Miss Bubblebosom, whose curves and wavy hair reminded Doris so much of Seraphina Goldenwand?
A slow smile spread across Doris’s face when an idea occurred to her. With a flick of the wrist, she moved her wand over her body, reciting the transformation spell. She gasped when she shrunk a good foot and had to look up at her lover. When the pearl buttons popped off her shirt, she smiled at her generous cleavage and smoothed her hands over curvaceous siren hips. No wonder the little tramp couldn’t keep her legs closed. She had a body made for loving.
Athena arched a bushy brow. “What are you doing?”
Doris zapped the lock on the door. She shrugged out of her jacket and threw it across the desk. Athena’s eyes widened when she slipped off her shoes and unzipped her pants. When Athena broke into a lusty grin, steam pouring out of her nostrils, Doris hoped she’d won. If not, there was nothing to be done. The school came first. Athena had known this when they started dating.
Chapter Two
Serah was pulled through the thin, slightly sticky film that made the bubble. It looked nothing like what she’d seen from the outside. It was ten times bigger and a total bachelor pad, with a tiki bar at one end, a flat-screen television on the other, and a round, crimson velvet sofa in the sunken center of the room.
“I’m Teju.” Boxer Shorts adjusted his wire glasses and slapped his chest. “And this is my brother, Draque.” He gestured to Bearded Guy, who was casually leaning against the translucent wall, sipping a beer.
When Draque tilted his bottle toward Serah with a wink, she thought her knees would buckle. He was sinfully sexy. Something about the way he mentally undressed her with his eyes told her he’d be an amazing fuck.
Teju pointed to the crimson-faced guy in sweats, who was going around the room, shoving empty beer bottles into a bag. “And our other brother, Ladon.”
Ladon’s cheeks flushed even brighter. “Sorry about the mess,” he said. “We weren’t expecting company.”
“I don’t mind.” She shrugged. “Beats that hellish island.” She rubbed her arms when chills raced across her skin.
Ladon dropped his bag, snatched a blanket off the sofa, and wrapped it around her. “Come sit down,” he said and led her down shallow steps to the sunken area.
She hugged the blanket tightly and smiled at him as she sat. When his fingers brushed her skin, her chilled flesh burst into fire. “Thanks.” She looked into golden eyes that sparkled like gems, then was drawn to his full, sensual lips.
He flashed a dimpled grin. He had the longest, thickest black lashes she’d ever seen. “My pleasure. We didn’t catch your name.”
“Serah,” she answered.
“A pleasure to meet you, Serah.”
He licked his lips as if the sound of her name made him hungry, and there was no mistaking the fork in his tongue. Witches didn’t have forked tongues. Was he a shifter? She wracked her brain, trying to remember which ones had forked tongues and wishing she’d paid more attention in her Anatomy of Magical Creatures classes. Her mind wandered to all the naughty things he could do with that tongue.
“Would you like a hot cup of tea?” he asked.
His irises contracted into long, narrow slits before changing back again, and she had no doubt he was a shifter, which meant his brot
hers were, too.
She eagerly nodded. “Yes, please.”
“Okay. Be right back.”
Licking her lips, she sighed when Ladon disappeared behind the tiki bar. She could’ve gotten lost in those golden eyes of his. When his brothers sat beside her, she scooted back against the plush cushions, casting a cursory glance at the pile of pillows on the floor. Had they brought other girls to their bubble or was she the first?
The thought of being in a shifters’ den sent a jolt up her spine. Shifters were considered the black sheep of the magical world, and the more dangerous the beast, the more taboo the immortal. Teju and Draque also had golden irises. She closed her eyes as the image of a golden-eyed dragon with a forked tongue flashed across her mind. Her grandfather loathed all shifters, but he especially hated the dragon race, which made her want them more.
Moisture flooded her underwear at the thought of all the fabulous things three forked-tongued shifters could do to her. Merlin’s balls!
You can’t take them home to dear old Granddad, but you can have some fun, her siren hissed.
Though Serah’s siren was considered part of her, she had conversations with that part of herself. Thelix, as her siren preferred to be called, was short for Thelxinoe, an ancient ancestral name, since inner-sirens were basically recycled ancestors.
Shut up, she whispered to Thelix, unnerved when she was answered with a laugh.
She peered over Teju’s shoulder; their bubble hovered in the air as if it was suspended on a string. She made the mistake of looking down. The earth moved beneath them as they floated to the top of the cavern, over a wall, and into another cavern. “You guys sure this is safe?”
“Relax.” Draque chuckled. “We do this every detention.”
“How many detentions have you had?”
“Meh.” He shrugged. “Usually one a month.”
“And you use that time to party in a bubble?”
Teju popped the top on a beer. “Pretty much.”
“How many girls have you brought in here with you?” Serah couldn’t deny the jealously that twisted a blade in her heart at the thought of other girls sharing the dragons’ den.