by Lucia Ashta
Power Streak
Magical Creatures Academy ~ Next Level: Book One
Lucía Ashta
Power Streak
Magical Creatures Academy ~ Next Level: Book One
Copyright © 2019 by Lucía Ashta
www.LuciaAshta.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, places, or events is purely coincidental.
Cover design by Sanja Balan of Sanja’s Covers
Editing by Lee Burton
Additional editing by Elsa Crites
ASIN B07VSBY6PC
Version 2019.10.22
Books by Lucía Ashta
WITCHING WORLD UNIVERSE
Magical Creatures Academy ~ Next Level
Power Streak
Power Object
Power Shifter
Magical Creatures Academy
Night Shifter
Lion Shifter
Mage Shifter
Sirangel
Siren Magic
Angel Magic
Fusion Magic
Magical Arts Academy
First Spell
Winged Pursuit
Unexpected Agents
Improbable Ally
Questionable Rescue
Sorcerers’ Web
Ghostly Return
Transformations
Castle’s Curse
Spirited Escape
Dragon’s Fury
Magic Ignites
Powers Unleashed
Magical Arts Academy Omnibus, Books 1-4
Magical Arts Academy Omnibus, Books 5-8
Magical Arts Academy Omnibus, Books 9-13
The Witching World
Magic Awakens
The Five-Petal Knot
The Merqueen
The Witching World Omnibus, Books 1-3
The Ginger Cat
The Scarlet Dragon
Mermagic
The Witching World Omnibus, Books 4-6
Spirit of the Spell
The Light Warrios
Beyond Sedona
Beyond Prophecy
Beyond Amber
Beyond Arnaka
PLANET ORIGINS UNIVERSE
Dragon Force
Invisible Born
Invisible Bound
Invisible Rider
Planet Origins
Planet Origins
Original Elements
Holographic Princess
Planet Origins Omnibus, Books 1-3
Purple Worlds
Mowab Rider
Planet Sand
Holographic Convergence
OTHER WORLDS
Supernatural Bounty Hunter
(co-authored with Leia Stone)
Magic Bite
Magic Sight
Magic Touch
Pocket Portals
The Orphan Son
STANDALONES
Huntress of the Unseen
A Betrayal of Time
Whispers of Pachamama
Daughter of the Wind
The Unkillable Killer
Immortalium
About Power Streak
Jasmine has been around magic all her life. She knows the rules, and she loves to break them.
When she turned eighteen, her shifter powers manifested, just as she expected them to. When the Magical Creatures Academy invited her to attend the prestigious school, she wasn’t surprised. When she had a fling with a flirtatious fae over the summer, she thought nothing would come of it, especially as she’s had her eye on a mighty fine shifter at the academy.
But for once Jas is about to be shocked. The fae isn’t what he appeared to be, and neither is the amulet he left behind.
For the uncensored truth speaker within all of us.
Live wild and free.
And, as always, for my daughters,
who make my heart happy every single day.
I don’t figure there’s any point to pussyfooting around life. Life is too short to censor what we say, what we do, and what we feel.
Jasmine “Jazz” Jolly
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Want More?
Power Object
The Sirangel Series
The Magical Arts Academy Series
The Witching World Series
The Dragon Force Series
Acknowledgments
About the Author
1
Knuckles rapped against the door to my bedroom. I groaned into my pillow. “Go away, Ma!” I grumbled.
“It’s time to wake up, Jasmine,” my mother insisted, her voice crisp even as it filtered through the door.
“It is not. I have my alarm set and it hasn’t even gone off yet.”
“Then you set your alarm too late. You don’t want to start the new term by being late to your first day of school.”
I groaned again. With my mother’s constant fretting, the summer had been unreasonably long. “School doesn’t even start till tomorrow.”
“Yes, but you have to travel there today, and who knows what unplanned inconveniences might happen. Fate favors the prepared. You don’t want to risk delaying.”
“No, Ma, you don’t want to risk delaying,” I said, but only to my pillow. There was no point talking sense into the woman.
“The sooner you get up, the sooner you—”
“I’m up! Just leave me alone so I can get dressed.”
“You are not up. You’re lying in bed waiting for me to go away so you can snooze some more.”
It was like the woman had x-ray vision. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she had some kind of secret superpower that allowed her to track my every move.
“I never did understand the snooze feature,” she prattled on. “How anyone could go back to sleep knowing that they have to get up is beyond me.”
She wasn’t going to stop until she was sure I was up. I rolled my eyes heavily, and then rolled them again in anticipation of whatever else she might say, gave the mother of all moans, and threw the cozy down comforter off me. My bare feet slapped against the hardwood floor as I walked over and yanked my bedroom door open.
“There. I’m up. Are you happy now?”
I offered her a forced smile. She didn’t even blink at it. My mom was a pro.
“I’ll be happier once you wash that pretty face of yours and get moving. You really shouldn’t go to sleep with makeup on, Jasmine. I don’t understand why you put all that gunk on to conceal that beautiful face of yours.”
“I don’t ‘conceal’ my beauty, I enhance it.”
Mom was shaking her head. “No, you mask it. Why do you want to hide behind a mask?” She peered at me with light blue eyes that reminded me of my own.
“I’m not in the mood for psychotherapy at the butt crack of morning,
Ma.”
She tucked her long black hair behind an ear and studied me far too intently.
“Don’t even go there…” I warned.
“Maybe I should set you up with a nice therapist that could help you work through some of your issues. I’m sure I could find one that would work with you while you’re at the academy.”
I breathed deeply, calling on the god of patience, hoping one existed. “Mom,” I started with more calm than I possessed, “I don’t need therapy.”
“But what if there are things you need to talk about that you won’t talk about with me? What if you’re holding feelings inside and just letting them fester there? That’s not good, you know? You shouldn’t hold back your true self. You used to talk to me about everything, and now…” Her shoulders sagged, and I couldn’t tell if she was really saddened or if it was a ploy to get me to talk. The woman was that good.
I sighed. “I do talk to you.”
She looked up at me with hopeful eyes, and I still couldn’t decide if she was playing me. I leaned on the open door, resigned to having this conversation.
Her dark lashes fluttered against her pale cheeks as she tilted her head to the side. “You didn’t tell me about the boy you had coming around over the summer.”
The breath lodged in my chest and I choked on it. “You knew about that?”
Her demure pretense fell from her face, so similar to mine, and I knew I’d been had.
She beamed victory. “Ah-ha. So I was right.”
“Are you kidding me right now? Ma, that was entrapment.”
“That was a mother-daughter chat we just had. That’s what that was.”
She’d purposefully woken me up far too early, knowing I was as much a morning person as a vamp, and then suckered me in before I had my wits about me.
“Don’t you narrow your eyes at me, Jasmine,” Mom continued, unfazed. She had an extra spring in her step now, and I wondered how long she’d been planning this.
I flung my hands in the air. “How many times do I have to tell you and Dad not to call me Jasmine?”
“Until you tire of it, apparently. Your name is pretty, Jasmine, you should use it. Jazz is just so … informal … like you’re some gang hoodlum or something.”
“Asking people to call me Jas instead of the name of a stupid flower makes me a hoodlum…” I dragged out. “Are you for real right now?”
“Jasmines are not stupid. They are lovely flowers with the most amazing fragrance.” She breathed in deeply as if she could scent them in the air around us right then. “It’s the perfect name for my beautiful daughter.”
“I’m a skunk shifter, Ma,” I deadpanned. “Or have you forgotten that little fact? A skunk shifter can’t be named after a flower.”
“And why not? You’re an amazing specimen of skunk shifter. I’ve never heard of another skunk shifter as large and strong as yours. You should be proud of your animal. Your father and I are proud of our animals.”
“Yeah, but I’m a skunk. You’re a possum and Dad’s a raccoon. That’s way better. Skunks are smelly.”
A hand fluttered to her chest in indignation. “You are not smelly. Skunks spray as a defense mechanism, and you do not spray unless you have to.”
Sighing heavily, I leaned my head against the door with a thud. “I’ve never sprayed anyone.”
“See! You’re a flower, not smelly.”
“Flowers are smelly,” I said, only because I couldn’t help myself.
“In the best of ways, just like you.” She patted my cheek until I drew back.
When she started shaking her head at me, I followed her gaze. When I noticed it on my nose, I opened my mouth to stop what I knew was coming.
She was too fast, a scowl transforming her pretty face. “Why you’d put a hole in that gorgeous face of yours…”
“It’s just a nose piercing, Ma, no big deal.”
“No big deal? No big deal! You put a hole in the face I gave you!” Her cheeks flushed pink as she prepared to really get going. In all my nearly twenty years of life, I’d never witnessed my mother stopping on her own.
“Yes, well, Ma, we don’t have time for this,” I said. “I’m running late, remember? You don’t want me to be late for my first day of school, do you?”
“It’s the day before school starts, isn’t that what you said?”
“Still, lots to do to get ready. I need to pack and wash my face and stuff.”
I peered at her, gauging whether that was enough to set her off in a different direction. Nope, not enough. She was still flicking her gaze to my nose a little too often.
“I’ll be starting my fourth term at the academy,” I tried instead. “That’s a big deal. I’ve already made it through three full terms. Only six more to go,” I added with false cheer.
She studied me with narrowed eyes while I scrambled to think of what else to say. When she breathed calmly and beamed her pride at me, I let out a silent sigh of relief.
She smiled. “You’ve done such a marvelous job. Your instructors have nothing but glowing things to say about you.”
Yeah, probably because you hounded them until that was the easiest way to get rid of you.
“Yep. So … I’d better get ready for school.”
“How many times do I have to tell you to watch your language, young lady?”
“What?” My eyebrows drew together. “What’d I say this time?”
“‘Yep’ is not a word.”
God of patience, where are you? I smiled tightly. “Fine. Yes.”
“Don’t take that tone with me. It’s my duty to educate you properly. The only reason I’m letting you go so far away for school is because there’s no finer place for shifters to study. If that weren’t the case, I’d want you here, with me, where I could personally supervise your education.”
Just the thought of that made me shudder. When I did actually shudder, again she narrowed those sharp blue eyes at me. Before she could say anything else, I decided smoothing things over was the best course of action.
I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Thanks for all the looking out for me you do.” I meant that by at least half. “I know you only worry ‘cause you love me.”
Her eyes lit up. “That’s right, my little Jasmine. I love you more than I love myself.”
That’s a really sweet thing to say, I told myself while I worked not to react to her calling me by my given name. I’d never been able to decide whether or not she did it on purpose just to rile me up.
She leaned into me, sweeping her arms around me in a fierce embrace, and I decided that she didn’t intentionally do things to bug me. She just couldn’t help her ways.
I patted her on the back a few times. When I figured it was enough, I pulled back. “All right. Let me get to it. Once I’m done packing, I’ll let you know so you can call for a car.”
“Not ‘done.’ Cakes are done, people are finished.”
“Yes, right.” I plastered on the last fake smile I had. I began to inch the door shut in her face. “I’m going to get ready.”
Her eyes darted all over me as if seeking one more thing to give me instructions about.
“I’m about to turn twenty years old, remember,” I nudged. “I don’t need you to hold my hand anymore.”
Instantly, I realized it was the wrong thing to say. Her face fell as if in slow motion, and I wanted to kick myself. I almost had the door closed and then I had to go and mess it up.
“I’ll be coming back for winter break,” I told her. “That’s only four months from now.”
Her eyes were rimmed with tears. “My baby.” She shook her head and I didn’t think she even realized she was doing it. “My only daughter, all grown up and flying the nest.”
Not for the first time, I wished I weren’t an only child. I could’ve shared this obsessive attention with a sibling or twenty.
“I’ll come home again, Ma, I promise.”
Sniffling, she nodded, and the sadness dragging her
face down was almost enough to pull her into another hug—almost. Now that she was upset, she wasn’t as sharp. It was my chance, and I wasn’t about to waste it.
I pulled out the mother of all daughterly weapons to ensure my victory. “I love you, Ma. I’m gonna get ready for school now, okay?”
Sniffling some more, she nodded, looking small and frail. Looks deceived.
“I’m going to close the door now, all right?” Inching it forward, I watched her, warring with my conscience. When I was about to fully shut it, I sighed. “Are you going to be okay?”
“I’ll be fine, Jasmine. I always am, aren’t I?” But it’d been a long time since I’d heard her this deflated. Since the last time I went off to school, actually.
“Go find Dad,” I suggested. “He’ll help.”
Nodding absently, she started down the hall, a hand clutched to her chest as if it could help the ache there. Confident Dad would bring her around, I finally closed the door all the way and leaned heavily against it. I breathed a sigh upward until the white streak that punctuated my otherwise black hair fluttered into my line of sight.
I suddenly couldn’t wait to get to school. I loved my mom and all, but I could do without the loony-tune drama every day.
I stalked to the bathroom and ran the shower, stepped into the water and let it wash over me. The last three terms at the Magical Creatures Academy had been intense; the school had been nowhere near as safe as Mom surely imagined it was, or she’d never let me return. Even with Dad as one of the head honchos of the Shifter Alliance—the true Shifter Alliance, not its rebel faction within the Voice headed by the now-dead and very much crazed mountain lion shifter, Rage—my parents didn’t know the full extent of what had gone down at the school.