Tricky Witch: A Reverse Harem Academy Romance (Academy of the Dark Arts Book 2)

by Nikki Dean

  Janae split as soon as the dismissal bell rang, having packed up her stuff at least five minutes beforehand. MacKenna called out to her, but she ignored him. Mallory ran to catch up.

  “Hey, are you okay?” Mallory asked.

  Janae didn’t turn around. “Fine.”

  Fuck it, I’m just going to go for it. “You want me to tell all of the mosquitoes on campus that he’s their number one target for the rest of the year? Or maybe stink bugs, instead?”

  Janae stopped and whirled around, her long twists swinging out from the unshaven side of her head. “What do you mean?” she asked suspiciously.

  “Are you really gonna try to tell me that MacKenna didn’t just force you to use your powers on him? I saw you during the battle simulation after you healed Alfred and Gavin, and you looked just like this. I don’t know why you did it, or care, but you were clearly trying to avoid it. So that calls for payback.”

  Janae stared at her for a minute before her lips twitched with the smile she was trying to conceal.

  “I’m going to take that as a yes. Mosquitoes it is, then.”

  The other girl jerked her head, indicating that Mallory should come on. “I’ve got another class in ten minutes across campus, so hurry up if you’re coming.”

  Mallory grinned and fell into step beside the taller girl. “So, the rest of the semester, or just a few weeks?”

  “Why don’t you alternate days or weeks or whatever, so he thinks the problem is handled, then they come back for no reason? It would drive him insane,” Janae mused. “Random things generally do.”

  “Why, that’s positively evil. I love it,” Mal agreed with a nod. “Anyone else you need me to take care of, or is he the only one? I assume that a girl with powers like yours must get a lot of unwanted attention.”

  “Nah, I’m too much of a bitch for all that.”

  Mallory laughed. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”

  “Likewise, girl. Likewise. How’d you know?”

  “I just saw how tired you got in the course of three seconds. It was weird. Are you giving him your energy, or absorbing some kind of injury when you heal?” She kept her voice down, in case anyone else was listening.

  “I give energy. I can’t take any back, so I have to regenerate it naturally. I’m working with Nurse Cavell and Professor Sithe on how to do that better, though. Bigger, faster, stronger, the Department of Defense’s motto,” Janae said with a sigh, as though just the words were exhausting.

  Which, Mal guessed they were, if they were constantly drilled into your head from childhood.

  “Professor Sithe? I thought she teaches history,” Mallory said in confusion. “How does that help?”

  “She’s an herbal witch. History is her passion, but her magic is plant-based, so she’s working with a chemistry professor and the nurse to develop something for me. Something better than energy drinks, since you’re probably right and my heart will eventually explode.”

  “You don’t sound too upset about that idea?”

  Janae shrugged. “It’d be better than being used all the time.”

  God fucking damn it, I knew it. She hates it just as much as I always thought I would. “I wish I could help. I never wanted to come to Dark Arts for pretty much the same reason, but I guess it was inevitable. Someone was bound to catch me doing magic, sooner or later. I have to keep a good handle on it so it’s not obvious that I’m a witch all the time.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Janae gave her an appraising look as she stopped by another building. “Why’s that?”

  “Oh, you know, just birds and butterflies and squirrels try to follow me when I let them. It’s weird. Plus they just shit everywhere, so you know, it’s also really annoying.”

  Janae laughed softly. “I imagine it would be.”

  “Yeah.” The other girl’s exhaustion beat at Mallory’s mind, and she didn’t see how she’d make it through another hour and a half long class. “Hey, let me try something. I don’t know if this will work, but you have to swear not to tell anyone if it does, okay?”

  Janae tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, but didn’t back away. “Okay,” she said slowly. “What are you doing?

  Mallory extended her palm. “Just something I read about in a meditation book one time. It’s about transferring energy. Maybe if you can give it, you can receive it, too.” It sounded like a load of shit even to her, but Mallory didn’t trust her enough to tell her about her web yet.

  “Do you have any idea what you’re doing right now?” Janae asked doubtfully.

  “I mean, it’s fucking magic. Does anyone know how it all works, really?”

  Janae shrugged and took her hand. Mallory closed her eyes and pulled her web into sharp relief, trying to remember where Janae’s power began in her mind, and see if she could do the same thing.

  A tiny spot of brightness separated from Mal’s light on her web and traveled along the string that connected her to Janae. Mallory pushed it into her friend’s hand, then let go.

  It worked, at least sort of. About half of the energy dripped away, reabsorbing into the string and half went into Janae’s dim light, changing hues until it matched the other girl’s.

  Janae jerked her hand back, rubbing it against her red-skirted thigh. Mallory wobbled a little on her feet as a wave of exhaustion hit her, but she didn’t pass out. Instead, she looked up to see that while they weren’t completely gone, the dark circles beneath Janae’s eyes had lightened, and she looked a little more alive.

  “Holy shit, Mallory, how did you do that?”

  “I’m not completely sure. I didn’t really expect it to work.”

  Janae didn’t move, her jaw still open in shock. Mallory’s heart sank and her head began to pound as she realized what she’d done. I just took her magic. On purpose. In control. And then showed her that I could use it on her, which should be impossible. Now I’m going to have to figure out some way to explain it, and hope she doesn’t tell anyone else. I’m such a fucking moron.

  “Any chance we can just… pretend that didn’t happen?” Mallory whispered. “I can’t explain why or how it did, and I don’t think I could do it ag-”

  “Shut up.” Janae’s voice was harsh. Her eyes narrowed and she glanced around quickly. She grabbed Mallory’s hand tightly and pulled her close. “Seriously. Not another word. Come with me.”

  What the fuck have I gotten myself into now?

  Chapter 25

  Janae pulled her through the hallways and up the stairs, then went into the ladies’ bathroom on the third floor. She quickly scanned the stalls and locked the main door, then turned on every faucet in the three sinks.

  “What’s going on?” Mallory asked softly.

  Janae turned a hardened glare on her and shook her head. Mallory shrank back, leaning her butt against the sink as she mentally ran through about twenty of the self-defense exercises she had learned after Paul was stabbed at the club. Never once did she think she’d have to use them in a situation like this.

  Janae hit the on buttons on both hand dryers and their loud, dull roars added to the watery noise filling the bathroom. She turned and waved Mal over to stand between them with her.

  What kind of super spy bullshit is this? Mallory walked over cautiously, not trusting anything about the scenario. Janae rolled her eyes and gestured again, snapping her fingers this time.

  “Are you hiding your powers?” Janae hissed, cutting right to the point. “Is your magic stronger than you tell people?”

  Mallory linked with her on the web, trying to assess the situation. Janae seemed desperate somehow, with a burning intensity that wasn’t directed at Mal in a bad way, but somehow enveloped them both. Tingles prickled up and down Mallory’s arms and she looked down to see shadowy tendrils of darkness wrapping themselves around her skin.

  They spread until most of her exposed skin was covered in the living ink, forming a sort of weird cocoon around her.

  “Mallory. This is important. Are you hidin
g your magic?” Janae hissed again.

  One of the hand dryers cut off and she slapped the button with a savage strength, then hit the other one for good measure.

  “Yes. I didn’t want to ever come here, so I’m keeping some of my powers a secret,” Mallory admitted. The darkness squeezed her briefly, but whether it was in rebuke or comfort, she couldn’t tell.

  Why is this here? I thought it was Nico’s magic, or Matt’s, or even both, but no one else is here. Is this really coming from me? Then why haven’t I ever seen it before?

  “Who sent you to the Academy?” Janae whispered. “I know they’ll tell you that shit is classified or whatever, but it’s all bullshit, Mallory. None of those people care about you or what happens to you. All we have is each other here.”

  “Why should I trust you?” Mallory asked softly. “I’ve already shown you something I never should have. How do I know you’re not one of them?”

  Janae’s lips curled upward into a rare half-smile. “Good. You’re not an idiot. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to ask, and I would’ve been disappointed if you didn’t. I’m not one of them, because I could never be. I’ve been experimented on, dissected and put back together since I was a baby, Mal. My other mother tried to hide me in her neighbor’s trash can just so that I wouldn’t end up here.”

  Mallory’s look of disgust must have shown, because Janae hurriedly added, “She wasn’t abandoning me. The neighbor was going to drop me off at a fire station a few days later, after my mother told the Defense Department shitbags that she’d lost her baby. She was trying to save me.”

  “And they found you anyway. What happened to your mom?” Mallory whispered.

  Janae looked away for a minute, but Mallory could feel the rage simmering beneath the other girl’s hard exterior. “Doesn’t matter. What matters is us now. Who sent you here?”

  “My handler, Matt Crowley. He saw footage from a traffic camera of me doing magic.”

  “No, dumbass. Some grunt of a handler isn’t responsible for shit. Even if he found you first, I promise he had nothing to do with you coming here. Who made the call, and sent you?”

  “Captain Fitzam.”

  Janae whistled and hit the hand dryers again. “That’s high up. You might be in too deep if you already have his attention. Whatever you do, do not use your magic like that again. If they know you can heal people, for whatever reason at all, your life will be over. Do you understand me? Talking to birds and squirrels is one thing, but healing is completely different. I have no idea how you managed it, but my entire family could, and do you know what happened to them?”

  Mallory shook her head.

  “Me neither. Point is, I’m here and most of them aren’t.”

  I could say the same, but that’s because mine were lucky enough to live on the outskirts, where not many people care about magic. I’d still be safe at home if I’d only stayed in Winn. Bored off my ass, and without any real prospects, and definitely without Nico or Matt, but I’d be safe. As safe as you get in a place hit by random territory battles, anyway.

  “I’m not trying to scare you. Well, maybe I am, but only so you listen. My point is that you absolutely cannot tell anyone, not even your sexy handler, that you’ve got the slightest bit of healing magic. Trust me on this. Okay?” Janae grabbed her shoulders. “I’m only telling you because I trust you. If anyone found out about this, or me telling you to hide it, we’d both be in deep shit.”

  She thinks he’s sexy? I mean of course she does, because he is, but the fact that she just said so to my face... Mallory’s jaw clenched as she tried to keep herself from reacting. “I won’t tell anyone if you don’t,” she said flatly.

  Janae blinked, then smiled, letting her go. “Your voice changed. You think he’s sexy, too. Is he single?”

  “No.” She knew she should have said it differently, maybe hedged about it a little, acted like she didn’t care. But she didn’t. Couldn’t.

  “It’s like that, huh? Good for you, but I really thought you were dating that other guy. Nico? So is he single?”

  “No.” Same tone. Damn it, mouth.

  Janae grinned. “Both of them? Damn. I had no idea. But back to the point -”

  “I won’t tell anyone anything. I know better, anyway, and was kicking myself for even showing you. I honestly didn’t think it would work, though. I haven’t been able to do it before.”

  “Really?” Janae studied her. “Not at all? No healing a little brother’s or sister’s scraped knee, or helping your mom with her headache before bed?”

  Mal shook her head. The darkness tensed around her again, as though maybe she should have lied.

  “Huh. I guess being around another healer must have triggered it then. Which is actually more dangerous, because it means your magic is still developing.”

  “I know. I’ve passed out a few times since I got here. Blinding headaches and all of that, then the guys had to take me to see the nurse.”

  Janae gave her a sympathetic nod, for once. “That happened to me a lot too, when I was little. My powers developed early because of the modifications to them.”

  “That must have been awful.”

  She nodded again. “It was. Anyway, I’m late for my next class, so I’ll see you around. Remember, keep it a secret, above all else. And if it does come out, forget we ever had this conversation.”

  “Absolutely.”

  The next week crept by at a glacial pace. Mallory kept her phone on her at all times, ignoring the looks that she got from Damon and Alec on their runs. Even Nico had noticed it, but refrained from saying anything aside from reassuring her that Matt would call when he could.

  Everything was fine, they all promised. Except that Mallory couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t. It was somehow too quiet in her head, as though there was a television on in the next room, but she couldn’t hear anything from it. She should, but it just wasn’t coming through.

  She didn’t tell them about the shadows that caressed her, twining through her fingers like a ghostly lover’s hand in the early mornings, when she woke without Nico beside her. It reminded her of the one morning that she’d spent with Matt, wrapped in his arms before he realized that she was there.

  It was almost enough to make her wish she’d said something, told him that it was all right and to be still. But she hadn’t, and couldn’t now.

  The next battle simulation occurred that Thursday and Mallory followed Alec’s advice, taking to the high ground like she should have done the first time around. Her team was disappointed in her lack of assistance, and MacKenna frowned at her more than once at the end of the period.

  Pohler even emailed her, checking in to make sure everything was all right.

  She ignored it.

  “Hey, are you okay?” Nico asked on Friday night. She, Nico and Alec were hanging out in the dining hall, killing time before her evening run. “You seem upset.”

  “He hasn’t called. You guys said it’d be a week, and now it’s been longer. I keep worrying.”

  “Aww, are the lovebirds missing someone?” Alec teased, his voice low.

  Mallory threw a scrap of her trash at him.

  “Shut up. You never know who is listening,” Mallory hissed. Janae’s insistence that they only talk with the hand dryers on and the faucets running popped into her mind, and she couldn’t help but wonder, again, why the other girl had taken those precautions. What had she learned during her lifetime at the academy that made so much secrecy necessary?

  Or worse, who was watching them, and why?

  “You’re the one who brought up the week thing. Anyone listening would know who you meant, if they’re bothering with our group,” Alec replied.

  Mallory glared at him. “Quit it with the lovebirds bullshit.”

  “Oh, right. I actually did forget about that,” Alec said with a shrug. “Sorry.”

  Mallory rolled her eyes, wanting to reach out to Nico then and there. Her shadow did it for her, meeti
ng his halfway as it reached for her, too. Neither Alec nor Nico acknowledged it in any way.

  Maybe it’s like a virus or something, Mallory thought. A kind of crazy that might somehow explain how my life got to this point.

  The alarm went off on her phone, making her jump. She scowled at the screen, then stood. “I have to go change. Damon will be here any minute.”

  They both nodded, staying where they were. It was a system that they’d worked out when they hung out in public for any length of time. She always left first, then they followed later. It didn’t work as well for off-campus dates, so they hadn’t had any more dinners with Everett.

  Thankfully. Mal didn’t know if she could stomach his attitude on top of the relentless anxiety that Matt’s disappearance was causing. He hasn’t disappeared, he’s just at work, she told herself on her way to her room. He’s fine. Just like they said. He’ll call when he can.

  Checking her phone for the five billionth time, Mallory groaned at the usual lock screen. “When did I turn into this pathetic thing that’s sitting around waiting on a man to call me? Seriously, have some self-respect, Serra, and go do something with your life. Go for a run, read a book, do some homework, seduce your boyfriend. Literally anything except check the phone again.”

  “Boyfriend, not girlfriend?”

  The voice came from the spare wooden desk chair that had been shoved into the farthest reaches of the room. A man stood up from it, wearing dark pants and a shirt, and came at her.

  Chapter 26

  Mallory screamed, punching wildly. She missed the first time as he dodged her initial lunge, then pulled her elbow back, hitting him square in the jaw with its point. He grunted and grabbed her arm, trying to keep her from connecting again.

  “Calm down, Mallory!” he ordered.