by Nikki Dean
Tricky Witch
Book 3 of the Academy of the Dark Arts
Nikki Dean
Tricky Witch
Nikki Dean
Copyright 2019, all rights reserved.
No part of this document can be duplicated, shared or referenced in any way except directly to the author, Nikki Dean. It is not for resale or distribution, and is for the sole purpose of gathering feedback before publication. This work is entirely fictional, and does not represent actual people. Any similarities are purely coincidental.
This book is dedicated to Leana Rodriguez, for always being there to help when I need her. And to Micki Jones, for always fitting me in when I need her to and giving me stellar plot advice along the way.
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
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Also by Nikki Dean
Chapter 1
Where am I? What happened to that thing?
Mallory opened her eyes and saw a white ceiling. Or at least, that’s what she assumed it was. It was a little blurry, so it was hard to tell.
Familiar voices floated around her, snatches of a conversation that she wasn’t really part of. It was about her, though.
“Passed out cold on the grass again. Wonder why her powers keep draining her like that?” someone asked.
Alec?
“Hey, Bunny, I’m here,” he replied.
Oh, shit, was that out loud? She didn’t think it was, but it must have been if he’d heard her.
Someone took her hand and she turned to see him at her side. Nurse Cavell stood behind him, and Matt and Nico were beside her, identical scowls on their faces.
“She asked for me first,” Alec gloated.
“Shut up,” Matt shot back.
“Didn’t mean to, just thought it was you talking,” Mal replied. She shook off his hand and sat up. Her head spun and a dull ache began behind her eyes. She brought one hand up and pressed the heel of it to her forehead. “Can one of you quietly explain to me what just happened? What the hell was that thing?”
Alec gave her a weird smile and shook his head the tiniest bit. “Dunno what you mean, Bunny. You were using your powers to practice in the gym and passed out. Nico ran you here, and we caught up with you.”
Nurse Cavell frowned.
What kind of bullshit is this? Mallory narrowed her eyes and shook her head, preparing to argue with him.
Nico shoved him out of the way and came to the side of her cot. “We’ll explain everything in your room. Do you need something for your head? You practiced a lot back there.”
“Any idea why she keeps passing out?” Mal heard Matt ask the nurse quietly. “She said she hasn’t ever done that until she got here.”
“It’s most likely the same reason as last week, if you were pushing her harder than you should have. I would assume that her abilities just haven’t fully recovered yet from her first expansion, if she’s still having trouble. What was she doing?”
Matt’s cheeks colored slightly beneath his tan. “We were making her run some drills, try to use her powers in different ways to see if she can contribute in tomorrow’s simulated battle in Professor MacKenna’s class. Just usual stuff.”
“Hmm, if it wasn’t anything strenuous, then perhaps she should sit this one out. I can write her a note.”
“No,” Mal spoke up. “I mean, yeah, I’d love something to make my head stop hurting, but I have some ibuprofen in my room. I meant no, I don’t want to sit out tomorrow’s simulation.”
They all looked at her in surprise.
“Are you sure? Professor MacKenna won’t mind,” Nurse Cavell assured her.
“I already missed the first one, so I don’t want to miss another. We’re doing one as part of the final, so I need to practice.”
Nurse Cavell beamed at her and set down the syringe she’d begun to prep. “Wonderful, my dear. Let me know if your headache persists. My rooms are attached to the clinic, so ring the bell beside the door if you can’t sleep, and I’ll hear it.”
Oh, shit, it is pretty late, isn’t it? We should go. Mallory nodded and got to her feet. Her legs wobbled a little and Nico grabbed one arm while Alec grabbed the other. The nurse frowned.
“I’m good, I’m good. Just a little lightheaded for a second, but I’m fine now,” Mallory lied. The pounding in her head had increased the second she stood up. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Mallory. Please come see me and allow me to check you over again before your classes.”
Mal nodded again and pulled her arms from the guys’ grips, determined to make it to the hallway alone. She wanted to look like she had this under control, even if Nico and Alec, at least, knew better.
She needed answers. Now, before she took a handful of painkillers and went to sleep. The door closed behind them and she sagged against Nico’s side.
“Here, Miss Magic, I’ve got you,” Matt murmured quietly as he swooped her up from behind, turning her so that she had to wrap her legs around his waist. She did, trying to ignore the butterflies in her belly when he grabbed her ass a little too tightly for a minute, relishing the feel of her in his arms.
I can’t believe he’s carrying me through the dorm like this, where anyone could see. And in front of my boyfriend, who doesn’t mind at all. Then again, we were just making out with his thigh grinding against my pussy. Or was it my pussy against his thigh?
The frisson of excitement that ran up and down her spine made her shiver in spite of herself, and Matt held her a little closer. Seriously? I cannot be encouraging this. I didn’t even want one boyfriend, much less two, and especially not the guy who took me in in the first place, no matter how hot and funny he is.
“Can you just take me to my room without molesting me in the hall?” she asked. Mallory scowled when the demand came out a little breathier than she’d intended. Nico reached over and took her hand, squeezing it.
“What’s with you three?” Damon scoffed. “You’d think she has beer-flavored nipples or something.”
“Mmm, gives ‘straight from the tap’ a new meaning,” Alec retorted. “Sign me up.”
“You guys are such perverts,” Mallory said with a sigh. “Nico, I’m not sure this is going to work out. Your friends are weird.” And I kind of want to fuck them. All. Well, maybe not Damon unless I can smother him with my pussy. Don’t have to hear him that way.
“Stop trying to break up with me in the hallway," he replied with a roll of his eyes. “Especially when we both know you don't mean it."
“Oh, yeah?" Mallory grinned. “How do you know?"
“You like me too much," Nico said with a cocky grin. It was different than the usual quietness with which he normally carried himself, and she liked it.
Those dimp
les kill me every time.
They heard voices near the elevator and Mallory poked Matt. “Let me down," she hissed into his ear.
He shook his head.
She frowned. “Seriously, I'm fine now. Put me down. What if it's someone I know?"
“What, and let Nico carry you up, guaranteeing that they start rumors?"
Nico frowned, but Alec and Damon nodded behind him.
“So you think you're my designated boyfriend in public since you're not a TA?" Mallory asked in disbelief. “You can't be serious."
“Sounds great to me."
“Yeah, well, you’re still my handler, so that must count for something.” The twinge of annoyance on her web told her that she was right. He could get into trouble for this, too, she realized. He’s just as much off limits as Alec and Damon are, if not more. So why’s he carrying me around like this in public?
They rounded the corner and Mallory buried her face against Matt's shoulder, praying that it wasn't anyone she knew. Alec and Matt made jokes about partying too hard on a school night as they all four got onto the elevator with a pair of girls that Mal had never seen before. Even with her headache, she felt their curiosity, and jealousy, on her web when they got off the elevator on the third floor.
“You should have put me down," Mallory said half-heartedly as they got off on her floor. “Those girls are going to try to figure out who I am. I could feel it."
“Your powers doing better already?" Alec asked in surprise. “That was a quick recovery. How long did it take last time you overextended yourself?"
“Didn’t say I’m all better, just that I could feel them. My head is pounding.” She shrugged one shoulder. “I don't know how long it took last week. Woke up around 2:00 a.m. to find these two in my room and they explained everything, then I went back to sleep. I didn't try to use my powers again until the next day. I don't feel like I could do anything like the gym again yet, but those girls were pretty clear. Plus, you're all gorgeous and everyone knows you, so of course they're curious."
Oh, dammit. Did I really just say that out loud? I must not be as okay as I thought, yet.
Matt let her slide to the floor and grabbed her elbow to steady her while she fished her lanyard with her door key out of her shirt. Her legs were much less reliable than her mind, much to her humiliation.
“I got you,” Nico murmured as she leaned against the door. He took the key from her shaking hand and put it in and unlocked her door. Scooping her up, he carried her in and shoved her bed in with his knee, then set her down on it. Matt sat down on one side and Alec claimed the other while Nico got medicine and some water from the fridge, gave it to Mal and pulled up the wooden desk chair.
“You guys are pathetic. I understand Nico, but you two are just sad,” Damon said with narrowed eyes. “This is never going to work out. Look at what just happened.”
“That was not our fault,” Matt shot back. “You can't try to pin that on us.”
“It probably would have killed her if we hadn't been there,” Alec pointed out. “It was always going to come for her eventually, given Fitzam's intentions.”
Fitzam's intentions? What the fuck is he talking about? “Someone explain. Now. What do you mean, it was always going to come after me because of Fitzam? What was that thing?” Mallory demanded after she swallowed the pills.
Nico sighed and Matt took her hand. “That was the amaroq, Mallory.”
“The amaroq?” she repeated with a look of surprise. “You've got to be kidding me. The amaroq isn't real. That thing couldn't have been it.”
“No? Why don't you tell us what it was, then?” Damon muttered as he sat on the opposite couch. “Since you know so much, tell us all about how we're wrong.” He leaned back, lacing his fingers behind his head as he stretched out his long legs in front of him, crossing his ankles. “Come on, I’m waiting.”
“Man, back off. She's been through a lot,” Nico said.
“Yeah, putting herself in danger by trying to use her untried, untrained powers on an animal that she couldn't possibly hope to control! That was stupid, Mallory, and all you did was piss it off!” Damon sat forward again, staring her down with disgust. “We had the situation handled.”
“It didn't look like it!” she shot back. “Whatever that thing was, it was pissed off before I tried to help, and it wasn't going to go away on its own! Why do you possibly think you could have handled it either?”
“Because unlike you, that wasn't our first encounter with it. You need to take the time to get to know your enemy before you try to manipulate it, Mallory. How did you even know that you could? I know for a fact you've never seen anything like that before.”
Know your enemy before you manipulate it. Sounds like he's done this before. “I didn't know. I just knew I had to try if I didn't want all of you to be eaten.”
“It was stupid and reckless, and you only made a shitty situation worse by pissing it off,” Damon said with a glare.
“I wasn't trying to piss it off -”
“She told me to get Matt out first,” Nico said at the same time. “Because she knew his magic was the least suited for the situation. Then you two while she kept it there. She was trying to help, even though she was scared shitless. Maybe you should give her some more credit.”
“You said what? That's literally the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. Facing an unknown enemy without backup is guaranteed to get you killed. Are you that desperate to get out of the academy that you'd rather die?” he demanded in disbelief.
Chapter 2
“Of course not! You know what, maybe I was right about you to begin with. You're a dick,” Mallory spat. “Taking me to the nurse last week and helping me train tonight threw me off a little, but you don't get to talk to me like that. I was trying to save your life, not commit suicide by whatever the fuck that was. Which, could someone please explain what the fuck that was?”
They all exchanged looks. Finally, Nico answered. “I know you'll think we're insane, but it really was the amaroq. Or something similar enough to the legends that we call it that. It's an anomaly, the only one of its kind that we know of.”
“But there are stories of similar things in other countries,” Alec interjected. Damon glared at his friend.
“But we have heard of more,” Nico finished. “It's not really an animal, but something else entirely. Animals can't do magic, and this can, and it's a lot smarter than any animal I've ever heard of. It's been theorized that it's not from this plane of existence, but there's no way to know. It can appear and disappear at will, and is untraceable.”
“You're describing a demon, like the legends say. How much of that has been proven and how much is just hearsay? How many times have you interacted with it, and where?” Mal asked.
“That's why it's called the amaroq. Because it is a demon,” Damon said, exasperated. “We're not making this up.”
“The guys that attacked my coffee shop that morning said something about Helston sending our demon to attack their city. Does it do that?”
They all looked at her in surprise.
“Sometimes. But not usually without a good reason, and I haven't heard of it attacking recently,” Nico replied slowly.
“A good reason? Like what? It didn't have a good reason tonight, and yet half the gym is destroyed. What's going to happen there anyway?” Her blood ran cold. “Is it still in there? How did it get in without us seeing it?”
“The lights were off,” Damon replied. “And no matter how good you are with that web, you can't see in the dark.”
“Which is exactly my point. The hall lights were on, so we would have seen the door open. It would have been obvious in the dark, and you guys would have accused me of running away. So how did it get in?”
Damon glanced at Alec and shrugged. “No idea. Maybe it was there before us, and we pissed it off making so much noise.”
“We definitely would have seen it if it was there before us. There wasn't any place for it to hide.”
“Look, I don't know how, but it randomly appears wherever it wants to be, and leaves the same way,” Damon replied in annoyance. “The point is that it was there and you took a foolish risk by trying to use your powers on it without knowing what would happen.”
“I had to do something,” Mallory replied, gritting her teeth. Matt stroked the back of her hand and she shook him off. “I'm not apologizing for trying. It seemed like a better idea than throwing benches and knives at it if we didn't have to. So thanks for the training session, but you can shove the lecture right up your ass. I didn't want to stand by and let anyone get hurt if I could help it.”
They glared at each other for another minute until Damon sat back against the cushions. “Fine. Your intentions were good, but it was still reckless.”
“I'll be sure to note that you think so, and put that under 'I don't really give a fuck' in my filing cabinet of bullshit you've given me since we met. Now it's late, my head hurts, and I'm going to bed. All of you get out.”
Alec chuckled and stood, stretching. “Get some sleep and let us know how it goes tomorrow after your battle. Remember to find a good hiding place early on. Higher is usually better.”
“I'm not going to just hide the whole time. What's the point of this anyway?” she asked.
“You're pretty much going to be playing capture the flag, but with magic. Plus you have to find it first,” Alec replied. “It's fun. Too bad you can't track inanimate objects on your mind map or the other team would be completely fucked.”