Diamond in the Rough: Semester One: Jewel Academy Book One

by Jami Klein

  “And that’s why you can’t be trusted to have the bracelets removed. Lola, you have a powerful magic that will get you killed if you don’t learn to control it. You’re too young to be geased and you’re too old for it to be ignored. If you don’t stop trying to use your mind magic, I will not be able to protect you.”

  “How can I protect myself, if I don’t have my magic?” I cried out, and then winced. It hurt so damned much.

  “Don’t rely on your mind magic so much. You have other talents. Build them up.”

  “Easy for you to say,” I grumbled, pushing to my feet and then regretting it as the room tilted. “You’re a daywalker. I’m just the new kid.”

  “Lola, you are a diamond in the rough. You just need to take the time to focus and polish your skills. Your father did you a disservice by homeschooling you.”

  “Tell me about him,” I whispered through the pain. “Why was he here?”

  “For the same reason as you more or less. He convinced a candy store employee to give him a few bags of candy.”

  I would have laughed if it hadn’t hurt so much. “That’s it? He got sentenced to this place for twenty bucks worth of candy?”

  “No, he was brought here because the employee wouldn’t stop giving him candy. He followed him home. He broke down the door to give him more and more candy.”

  I caught my breath.

  “The employee had to be sedated, but when he came out of it, he was still compelled to give your father candy. He would have gone broke paying for the candy. He would have lied, stolen, and killed to supply your father with candy.”

  “He was just a boy,” I said weakly.

  “The employees family wanted him neutered. His family had to give him up to the FBMI.”

  “Couldn’t someone like Agent Fines help the employee?”

  “Only your father could reverse it and he had no idea how to do that. In the end the lawyers brokered a deal. He’d either be neutered and put in prison for the rest of his life. Or he could come here and learn how to control his powers and attempt to free the employee from his spell.”

  “What happened?” My lips felt numb and I clutched my arms around myself.

  “The employee was put into a medically induced coma. Eventually, your father trained enough to reverse the spell—almost two years later. Both the Academy and the FBMI had to do a lot of damage control, but in the end the employee had a full recovery and doesn’t remember anything after Mark’s spell.”

  “Two years,” I breathed.

  “Can you see why your father never told you this?”

  I nodded.

  “And you see why the FBMI brought you to us so quickly?”

  “I’m not my father,” I said.

  “Not yet. But I think he was suppressing your powers for a long time and when that happens the magic just explodes out and it’s harmful for everyone around.”

  “Then why am I still being suppressed?”

  I shook my bracelets at her.

  “What do you think you would have done to those wolves if you were at full power?”

  “I can’t do this right now.” I staggered to the door. I didn’t want to be locked up in this dark room with her anymore. I didn’t want to think about what could have been or be punished for what I might do.

  “The bracelets aren’t forever. They’re just until you learn control. I know you don’t want to hurt anyone.”

  “I don’t,” I sobbed out. “I won’t. I promise.”

  “You need to solve things without your mind controlling magic first. I’ve adjusted the setting on the bracelets.”

  “You have?”

  “You’ll be able to cast small spells from other domains. They’ll still lock you out of accessing your mind magic, but you’ll be able to participate fully in your magical classes.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “Lola, I know you’re not your father. But not everyone else does. People have long memories and you want to avoid being in his shadow otherwise assumptions will be made that you are just like him.”

  “I don’t care what people think,” I said, opening the door.

  “You should. At least, in this area.”

  I closed her office door behind me and leaned against it until I was able to stand without swaying. I had another lead. I needed to find out who that employee was and if he or his family had gone after my father for revenge. As soon as my headache went away, I was going back to the library.

  Chapter Six

  I was mostly back to normal by the time I went to the balcony to meet up with Andrei. I went early to see if I could catch a glimpse of Stefan again. I did, but this time he looked up and caught me watching.

  Feeling a screech of terror up my spine when he turned his leonine eyes to me, I forced a smile and a cheery wave. Don't kill the dummy. Just move along. After staring at me for the longest minute of my life, he jumped down from balcony to balcony like he did the other night and soon disappeared out of my sight.

  "You like to live dangerously," Andrei noted, from behind me.

  I would not jump. I would not freak. I needed to get used to this. This was my new normal. "Do you always have to sneak up behind me like that?" I said, gritting my teeth.

  "When it starts to bore me, I'll stop." He handed me the book. "If you don't give it back to me by Wednesday, it's going to be both our butts in a sling."

  "Don't worry. You can trust me."

  "That remains to be seen," he said. "I heard you had a run in with the wolves today."

  "Just making friends where ever I go," I said weakly, remembering the intense migraine.

  "Stay out of things that don't concern you."

  "Not my forte."

  "I'm beginning to see that. You know as my blood donor, you'd be under my kiss's protection."

  "That sounds very Snow White, Count," I said. "Protect me with a kiss."

  "Then again, your mouth might be the death of you before your busy body nature does. You need these bracelets off. I can keep the monsters away."

  "I need my father's information more than I need the bracelets off. Have you found out anything?"

  "Not yet. I'll need run of the house and she doesn't go anywhere at night. It's rather inconvenient. But don't worry, I'll think of something." Andrei was very cute when he was disgruntled.

  "The sooner you do, the sooner you get your blood." I had to say that to remind myself that he was a vampire, not boyfriend material.

  "You need to get your priorities straight. Meet me here Friday night after your classes are over. I'll take you to Hellion Falls to meet the kiss then."

  Gulp.

  A deal was a deal.

  "Looking forward to it," I lied.

  ***

  I sat watching TV with Kim and Tracy after Andrei had wisped away to class. They didn't have much to say and I was starting to fall asleep anyway, so I went upstairs to bed. Our room door was ajar and I heard voices inside. Great, Priscilla was throwing a party. Maybe Andrei would let me nap in his coffin.

  “I don’t think this is such a great idea. Remember what happened last time,” a girl's voice I didn't recognize said.

  “Shut it, Abigail! Don't jinx this before we even get started, please,” Maya said.

  “We really shouldn’t be doing this without talking to Betty,” Priscilla said.

  “Doing what?” I asked, stepping into the room.

  All three girls turned around just as I clicked the doorknob closed. Abigail was the girl whose name I hadn't found out from last night and this morning.

  “Nothing!” Maya said. "Mind your business."

  “Coven business," Priscilla stated. “Get out."

  "It's my room too," I pointed out.

  "Fine. Would you please give us a few more minutes?" Priscilla’s voice oozed with icy politeness.

  "Sure," I said. I could be reasonable. I could also eavesdrop at the door. "I'll be watching TV." Before I could leave, Betty burst into our room.

 
; “What’s going on?” she asked, breathing hard. "I ran all the way here."

  Priscilla looked pointedly at me.

  "I'm going," I said and made a big show about closing the door. I sat on the staircase leading down to the common area, and opened up my senses. Magee said to practice using my other magic skills. This was almost like homework. The bangles burned and I flinched back from the pain, but it wasn't anything close to what I had felt before. They were just giving me a little warning that they were still there and watching me.

  Nothing to see here. Just a simple little spell to amplify a conversation. Nothing grey or black magic about this. Just trying to hear something. Priscilla's voice echoed in my mind loud and clear.

  “Maya wants to do another ritual. For some reason, she thinks that in order for her to have a boyfriend in time for the Samhain Ball she needs to do the ritual before her birthday.”

  "Seriously?" I murmured.

  “You're an idiot!” Betty snarled. I flinched back at the anger in her voice. It sounded like she was right behind me instead of several feet away behind a closed door.

  Priscilla scoffed and folded her arms. “It’s not going to work because there's only four of us, which is why it blew up in Delia’s face when she tried to use the same spell on Stefan Harte. We need another witch.”

  What the what now?

  Delia had been Priscilla’s roommate. I straightened up and listened harder. With my eyes closed, I could almost see into the room. The four of them sat in a circle and held hands.

  "That’s not true. The problem wasn’t that we didn’t have enough power. The problem was that Delia was too self-centered." Maya stated, “And that’s why she died.”

  I blinked. Delia, the student I was replacing, was dead. What kind of ritual was it? It sounded like it was a love spell. And I was the one with the anti-magic bracelets on. I shook my head in disgust.

  “You told me Delia funneled in too much power," Betty said.

  "She did." Priscilla's voice was soothing. "We needed a fifth witch. With you replacing our dear departed Delia, we're still a witch short for the spell."

  "If you want another witch, fine. I don't think it's necessary, but it's your coven," Maya grumbled.

  "I'm glad you remembered that," Priscilla said, back to her old sneering self.

  "We need not to do the spell at all," Abigail said.

  “Someone died casting this spell,” Betty said. “It's a bad idea. We'll find you a date for Halloween. There's no need to resort to a forbidden ritual.”

  Forbidden ritual. I knew it. Now, what was I going to do with that knowledge? Probably not a damned thing.

  "I'd like to expand the coven anyway," Priscilla said.

  "What about your roommate?" Betty asked.

  "Duh, the bracelets."

  "Wait until she gets them off then. It'll give us more time to study the spell and practice."

  "I'm running out of time," Maya groaned.

  “Better dateless than dead," Abigail pointed out.

  "Easy for you to say. You're dating the wolf alpha."

  In my mind's eye, I saw Abigail straighten up and smile dreamily. "He's got friends who are looking for a nice witch to date."

  "That's got to be safer than doing a ritual that has a chance of backfiring." Betty shuddered. "Love turning to hate. Did he really kill her?"

  I gasped and had to hold my hand over my mouth. I hoped no one heard me.

  “Sadly, yes,” Priscilla said.

  "I can't believe it," Betty whispered. I almost didn't catch what she said.

  “Why not? He killed his own brother."

  I rocked back and forth in disbelief. Stefan. They were talking about Stefan.

  "He's an animal. He tore the arm off of last year's quarterback because they had a disagreement."

  "I heard it was because he called Stefan a retard."

  "Still, that's a little overkill don't you think?"

  "Not for Stefan Harte."

  "I'm not going to try for Stefan," Maya said. "I'm not crazy. And I don't want a wolf. The shifters don't seriously date anyone but shifters. I want a boyfriend. I don't want to be a hookup."

  "All right, well who did you have in mind?"

  "Grantaire. He's an Enforcer."

  I groaned.

  “Did you hear that?" Priscilla said, her head snapping up. In my mind, I could see her staring at me.

  Crud! Busted. I let the spell dissipate and padded down the stairs as quietly as I could. I launched myself into the nearest empty chair and sprawled in it like I've been there for the whole time. As irony would have it, they were taking a break from reality television and watching the nature channel. On screen, an African lion stalked a gazelle.

  Priscilla came down the stairs a few minutes later. "We need to talk," she said.

  "Is your coven meeting done?" I asked innocently and followed her back up the stairs.

  "For now."

  I closed the door behind us and that's why I didn't see it coming.

  Priscilla slapped me full across the face. My head rocked to the side, my cheek burning. Water sprung in my eyes and I froze, caught between anger and fear and pain.

  "Don't you ever do that again."

  "Do w-what?" I stuttered, hating that I wasn't able to hold back a few a tears.

  "I'm not an idiot and this isn't my first rodeo. Stay out of my private conversations or I'll burn you to ash," she snarled.

  I clamped my jaw shut and gave her a tight nod.

  "I thought you couldn't do magic," she said, pointing to the bracelets.

  "There's a lot I can do," I muttered, putting some heat in my voice.

  I was actually glad for the bracelets right now. I wanted to roll over her mind and have her repeatedly run into the wall until she knocked herself out. The violence in that thought scared me. Maybe Magee was right and I couldn’t be trusted. That thought hurt worse than the slap.

  "I can't stay here tonight." I grabbed my backpack and slammed our door hard behind me.

  I wanted someone would stop me, because I wanted someone to ask me what was wrong. I wanted someone to care, but no one looked up from the television. I cringed away from the messy sound of the lion eating its prey. Exactly not what I needed right now.

  Running down the stairs, I passed by two Enforcers who were chatting together.

  "Did you feel something?" One of them said to the other.

  "Just the wind."

  I looked down at my hand and saw nothing. Goddess be merciful. I was invisible. I shut my brain right down. I didn't know how I had been doing this before Magee had given me freedom to use other spells, especially without pain from the bracelets, but I wasn't doing to take a gift for granted.

  I was getting out of here. The crunch of my feet on the ground seemed loud in the darkness. I was going to find a car and hope someone was dumb enough to leave their keys in it. As I strode down toward the wrought iron gate, a lion’s roar shook the night and my knees wobbled. So that was what that sounded like up close and personal. I wanted to climb a tree to get away from it. I wanted to run back inside.

  Ignoring the angry lion's warning, I strode down the fence line for what seemed like ten or fifteen minutes before pausing to glance back at the structure of the school. Even in the distance, it seemed to loom over the hillside like an ominous prison shrouded in the illusion of being an educational facility. It felt like anything but.

  There weren't any cars anywhere. What the hell was I doing? Even if I did get lucky and found a car to steal, where was I going to go? Back home? I'd be in FBMI's hands faster than I could say, "Mom, wait!"

  Adding grand theft auto wasn't going to get me out of these bracelets anytime soon.

  I blew out a sigh and rubbed a hand over my burning cheek. I should have punched Priscilla’s lights out. Or at least slapped her back. Instead I let her hit me and threaten me.

  I was pathetic.

  I took the path that would lead me back at Jewel Academy. It wasn
't fair. I didn't belong here and I didn't need to be in these bracelets. This place was a ticking time bomb. Nobody had any real security. It was like an alternative school for supernaturals – a last chance resort to get your crap together before entering the real world. I recognized that, and it burned my butt because I knew I deserved more. I wasn’t an evil person. I would have never chosen to go after Mr. Hannigan just because I could. I did it because he hurt my Mom. The courts wouldn't have done a damned thing to him. A little vigilante revenge seemed fitting after what he had done. They were judging me by my father’s actions and that wasn’t fair.

  I must have gotten turned around somehow. I had walked at least three-quarters of a mile and the trail twisted toward the tree line, but I wasn't heading back to the dorms anymore. Following the new trail, I shivered as the forest began to darken around me. I paused to allow my eyes to focus in on the path. It was late, and the obscurity of the woods was heavier than I had thought it would be.

  It's just the canopy and the shade. Don’t get overly paranoid. There’s nobody else here. You just went down the wrong path. It's easy enough to retrace your steps. Just think.

  I had to keep myself calm, mostly because I was afraid of losing my footing as I followed the faint outline of the trail. After another ten minutes, I rounded a corner but the lion's roar came again. I dropped to the ground, making myself as small as I could. He was getting closer. Was he stalking me? Did he roam the forest looking for female victims, crazed by Delia's love spell gone wrong?

  I curled into a ball and held myself there, not moving. Eventually, my limbs started cramping up and I was getting cold. This was ridiculous. I had a safe, warm bed to get back to and anti magic bracelets to protect me from a firebug roommate. I wasn't getting out of the Jewel Academy for a long time. Might as well get used to it and for dealing with high strung roommates. I knew one thing, though. Priscilla would never catch me off guard again.

  Feeling a little better, I uncoiled myself and sat up.

  An enormous lion sat in front of me, staring at me.

  I scrambled to my feet, trying to scream but making whimpering little bird noises in my throat instead. "Don't eat me," I begged.