The sensation lapped over her like tidal waves coming in. Each one stronger than the one before. Maybe she could help it know it wasn’t in danger. She gritted her teeth, steeling herself against the sensation. She didn’t have time to be afraid, and she was the dreamer.
Jess stepped closer. “It’s a beautiful animal.” She reached for the wakening creature. Would its fur be soft or coarse or hard like wire bristles? “Do they bite?”
The troll scooped up the small creature in its meaty paw. “Well, now you’ve gone and done it. You woke it. Now it knows what’s coming.” It sighed. “Terror gets into the muscles, and I’m not fond of fear flavoring. It won’t go with the pike weed at all now.”
Jess scowled. “What are you talking about?”
Preeme shook a fist at her, and the pearl-monkey flopped back and forth, and its eyes closed once more. “What do you want, girl? Interrupting my butchering and ruining my dinner.”
Jess gasped. “You’re going to eat it?” No wonder it was frightened.
She leaned forward. What if she wasn’t dreaming? What if it was all real?
She couldn’t let the ogre eat the defenseless creature. Dream or not. Not that adorable thing. Not on her watch.
Preeme appraised her with new interest. “Of course. Pearl-monkeys make the best soup.”
The flame on Jess’s palm brightened. “Not today, they don’t.”
The troll’s laughter echoed throughout the basement. Its chin jutted out, and it snarled. “What will you do, foolish girl? Stop me?”
Jess scoffed. “That’s exactly what I’ll do.”
“I’ll make you into breakfast, girl.”
A smile spread across Jess’s face. Preeme didn’t have any idea what it was in for.
A thought struck her, and her smile faltered. Maybe she didn’t know either.
Chapter Six
Psy-Vines
Rase stared out the picture window in the main living room, and a draft tripped down the back of his neck. He shivered, uncertain he’d made the correct choice.
He moved into a mansion. With a bunch of strangers.
The manicured lawn continued in a gentle slope down to the main road. The trees hid Bayburgh and New Haven City, if he could have seen either of them from the school. It was as if he had moved to a whole new planet, and his family, his best friend was a million miles away.
Melancholy coursed through him, and he turned to scan the space behind him. It reminded him more of a parlor than a living room. Polished and pristine, none of the furniture sagged like his favorite couch.
The atmosphere around him had a different feel to it than his house. Home was cozy. The school… wasn’t. Large drafty spaces created a chill that Rase hadn’t expected, and it unsettled him.
Two hours until his first meal at the new school. The scholarship paperwork indicated they scheduled evening meals in the formal dining room.
Rase sighed. He wore tattered shoes in a mansion. Loose threads hung from the hems of his thrift-store pants. “Out of place” didn’t quite explain it. He stuck out like a sore thumb on a fern.
Footsteps approached from the foyer, and Rase turned toward the sound.
Colonel Blackfox strode into the room. “Mr. Flannigan. How do you like your new home?”
Rase shrugged but turned back to the window. “I’m not sure I’ve been here long enough to know.”
“It doesn’t feel very home-like now, but you’ll eventually find yourself fitting.”
“How do you know?”
“It’s happened to the other students in that way.”
“What do you mean?”
Blackfox came to a stop beside Rase. “Our students rarely fit in immediately. Because of our mission, we naturally attract the unusual. Peculiar souls don’t embrace the usual. It is their strength,” he paused to lay a hand on Rase’s shoulder, “and their weakness. I want you to learn how to accentuate your oddity.”
The heartfelt words surprised him. He hadn’t expected it from Blackfox, and he wasn’t sure how to respond. Rase glanced at the older man and then back down to the floor. “You have other students here? I haven’t seen anybody.”
Blackfox chuckled. “Of course. You’ll meet three or four at the dinner table tomorrow night. The others will straggle in, and second-year students are allowed to arrive as late as the end of next week.” He released Rase’s shoulder. “Trust me. You’ll fit in. Eventually. You belong here.”
Rase scuffed the floor with his shoe. He wanted to believe those words. So much. Purpose. Value. He wanted to matter. There had to be a reason he had been given his talents. He needed to add something to the world.
“If you say so,” Rase said.
Blackfox started toward the front door. “Come with me.”
“Where to?”
“I want to introduce you to someone.”
Rase scowled, but he followed Blackfox through the foyer, out the front door, and down the steps. They strolled several paces down the graveled sidewalk that surrounded the mansion. He stopped beside the fountain, and the older gentleman took a seat.
Perched on the concrete edge of the large basin as the bottom of the fountain, Blackfox gestured toward the house. “I’m sure you noticed the vine outside.”
Rase shrugged. “Hard to miss. It covers most of the house.”
“That is does, Mr. Flannigan, but there’s more to it than meets the eye.”
Rase considered the overgrown plant through narrowed eyes. He scowled at the invasive ivy vine. “I’ve heard they break through brick if they’re left alone too long.”
“Not this one. Why don’t you try to touch it?”
Rase made a face but crossed to the four-story wall. He reached toward a large leaf. “Why? What’s different about this one?”
The foliage curled away from his hand then waved at him.
Rase shook his head. Did I see that? He reached once more.
The leaf retreated.
Rase laughed and stepped back, peering through the stems, searching for mechanics. “How do you get it to do that?”
Blackfox’s boot crunched in the gravel as he approached. “I’m not the one doing it.”
Rase scratched his head, spinning slowly and trying to locate the mechanisms for the ivy vine. No metal glinted anywhere.
Blackfox lifted his chin. “How long ago have you been here?”
A large eyeball, as big as Rase’s skull, extended from the middle of the wall. Shock rooted Rase to the ground.
The orb swiveled to study Rase, blinked once, and then turned to Blackfox.
Fifty years, by my count, Blackfox.
Rase staggered back. “What’s going on?”
“What’s wrong, Rase? Did you hear something?”
“No…” He scowled. “Did I? Was it audible?”
Blackfox shrugged.
“Is there a giant mouth up there somewhere in the leaves?”
Blackfox shook his head. “No. No mouth, no tongue, no vocal cords.”
“But I heard what it said.”
“You would.”
“Why? It doesn’t speak.”
“It’s a psy-vine. The last of its kind. It uses telepathy to communicate with those that have talent in their DNA.”
Rase rubbed a hand over his face. It was like the idea was too big for the size of his thoughts. “Can you repeat that?”
“My mentor brought me a dying ivy plant as a housewarming gift when I opened the school. We nursed it back to health, and now it serves as our security guard and helps in our missions.”
“Your security guard?” Rase emphasized the last word, his thoughts already spinning. “Wait. Your… missions?”
“Indeed.”
“What kind of missions?”
The ivy eye swung toward Rase, and Rase tripped on his feet in his hurry to get away. It blinked once. To save mystical creatures across the multiverse, of course.
A breeze moved through the ivy and the leaves unfurled as though st
retching into the wind. Rase didn’t know how to process that. His mind had exploded into a thousand pieces, in a thousand directions. Multiverses weren’t real. Were they?
Blackfox waited. Neither spoke. Rase glanced toward the orb.
“What does it do? For real?”
Blackfox crossed his arms and leaned against a bare spot in the wall. “We sort of fell into our business by accident, you know. From the time I was young, I’ve always had a soft spot for creatures. It was like I could hear their feelings, and I liked to make things better for them.”
Rase nodded. It made sense. The same could be said of his own childhood.
“In my twenties, I figured out it wasn’t normal. Around the same time, I stumbled onto Unseen Street in New Haven City. It opened my eyes to everything that happens right under our noses. I found a woman that helped me develop my skills, and I started helping animals out. Regular or paranormal, it didn’t matter to me.”
Blackfox started back down the path, and Rase followed.
“But how did you get from doing that to opening the school?”
“My mentor brought me a child with the same skill that I had. We worked together until he decided to move to another realm.”
Rase froze. “Another realm? Like knights of the round table? Is this a joke?”
Blackfox chuckled. “He’s doing well. He runs a sanctuary for remarkable beasts… and provided the inspiration for our public façade.” He turned to face Rase. “And this is definitely not a joke.”
Rase chewed his bottom lip.
Blackfox went on, “I know it’s a lot to take in. That’s why I always wait until the parents have gone.” He made a sweeping gesture that encompassed everything around this. “This earth—this version of earth—isn’t the only place that exists.”
The giant eyeball swung around to peer at them on the stoop. Rase turned so he didn’t have to look at it. It unnerved him. “How does it work?”
“It’s spliced into the security system. It searches the intent of every visitor. If it senses anything negative, it contacts Hobson, and Hobson alerts the household with its prediction.”
“It reads thoughts?”
Not for strangers.
Rase scratched his head. “What do you mean?” What would it mean for his plan to get Jess to attend?
If I know someone well, I can read specific thoughts, but that takes months. Otherwise, I sense only intent.
“Ah, I see,” Rase said. But he didn’t. Not at all. He turned to Blackfox. “But how does that help in your missions?”
Blackfox opened the front door, and Rase stepped through. “Once we saved this guy,” he jerked a thumb toward the ivy’s eye, “and nursed him back to health, we figured out he had an interesting talent.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s tuned to pick up the distress of creatures throughout the multiverse.”
Multiverse again. Had Blackfox gone mad? Theoretical probabilities. Science fiction movies. Popular franchises. All imaginary… weren’t they? They couldn’t possibly have some basis in reality. Could they?
Blackfox paused. “It’s also occasionally clairvoyant.”
Rase kicked at the ground. “A real superhero plant, huh?”
“A superhero that can’t leave the building. That’s where we come in. It chats with Hobson, and Hobson gives me the particulars. It’s a well-oiled machine.”
Rase spoke carefully. “That’s… impressive?” Overwhelming. Dumbfounding. Amazing.
“We’re still figuring out how to reach them all, but we’re growing in abilities and manpower.”
“Is that how you heard about the gryphon?” Rase grimaced. He hadn’t meant to say that outloud.
Blackfox scowled. “How do you know about that?”
Rase shrugged. “I heard something.”
“Overheard, you mean.”
Rase tilted his head and then gave the barest nod.
Blackfox’s mouth pressed into a tight line, and his expression hardened. “In this house, we do not sneak, Mr. Flannigan. We announce ourselves, and we do not snoop in conversations that are not our business. That is your one warning.” His eyes glittered. “You’re not ready for a great many things.”
“Yes, sir,” Rase mumbled, irritated by an unexpected flare of concern. He didn’t want to get tossed out before he even had a chance to learn how to use his power well. If it meant he got to stay, he would follow any rule Blackfox threw at him, but the ‘yes, sir’ rankled.
The pair paused in the foyer. Footsteps sounded overhead. Other students must be moving about. From the south wing, a young lady appeared at the top of the stairs. When she realized Rase was looking at her, she darted back down the hall.
Blackfox spoke quietly. “Don’t worry about her. She’s having a harder time of adjusting to the others than you. She has unique issues that make it harder.”
Rase watched her retreating figure. What kind of story would she tell? What powers did she have? His curiosity pushed the melancholy aside.
He turned to Blackfox. “What’s next?”
Blackfox smirked. “You get to check out the basement.”
Rase’s eyes widened, and his face broke in a grin so large it hurt his cheeks. “Right now?”
“Later.”
“Later… When?”
“After supper. We have plenty of time.”
Rase jogged toward the formal dining area, determined to scarf down whatever they tossed on a plate in front of him. For him, later couldn’t come soon enough.
Rase stared at his plate as the other three students—Freya, Kumiko, and Roger —whispered back and forth to each other. The struggling girl hadn’t made an appearance, but these three all knew each other from New Haven City. They had been some sort of orphan gang there.
They chattered on and on, the sound grating on Rase’s nerves. They hadn’t spoken to him at all. Maybe because his scowl had deepened with every moment that ticked by. Each quarter-hour gong vibrated at the same frequency as his anger.
Apparently.
Rase scraped his fork across the plate, scooping up the last of the mashed potatoes. At least the food wasn’t low cafeteria-quality. It had been as decent as anything his parents cooked. Definitely the silver lining of the evening.
He’d even texted Jess, but she hadn’t responded. She must still be mad at him.
The four students had served themselves from the (no doubt) antique buffet, situated at the side of the formal dining room. All the extra furniture matched the table which matched the wood paneling. A chandelier cast dim light over the room. The dark ambiance suited Rase’s mood. He wasn’t going to get to see the basement.
Blackfox hadn’t made an appearance at the dinner table at all.
According to the ticking grandfather clock, Rase had been waiting for Blackfox to show up for over an hour. Without speaking, Rase pushed the seat back beneath the table.
A gasp from one of the others brought Rase’s chin up. He blinked, and Freya stood beside him, staring at him. Pale lashes surrounded her light blue eyes. It reminded him of ice-covered blades of grass around a frozen pond.
Kumiko giggled then. “I’ll never get used to how you pop from here to there, Freya,” she said in lightly accented English. “Maybe I will learn how in my second year.”
Rase pointed to Freya. “You teleport?”
She nodded. “My first memory is of teleporting.” She stared past Rase. “I sneezed… and teleported away from my mother. I couldn’t figure out how to get back, and I never found her again. That’s how I met Kumi and Rog.”
Rase’s own mother came to mind, and his heart skipped. Her absence would have left a gaping hole. What an awful thing to remember. To be lost forever after.
Freya stepped closer. “Stop. Stop. It’s very sad, I know.”
Rase’s eyes widened. Freya had gone from dreamy to smiling faster than anyone he’d ever seen before.
She continued, “We waited as long as we could to intervene.
We each know what it’s like to be a new kid around other kids that already know each other.”
Roger raised a brow. “We know why you’re cranky.”
Rase crossed his arms and scoffed. “Is that so?”
“You want to see the basement,” Roger said.
“What if we could show you?” Freya nodded as she spoke.
Kumiko stood and straightened her uniform skirt over her thighs. “At least the outside of it.” She bounced up on her toes, and her shirt seemed a size too small.
Rase averted his eyes.
Roger strolled closer and draped his arm over Rase’s shoulder. “Come on. Let’s show him.”
Freya disappeared and reappeared in the hall outside the dining room. She spun slowly and then waved the others out. Kumiko and Roger rushed out. The trio darted down the carpeted hall.
Rase paused on the threshold, leaning out into the empty corridor. The quiet girl waited at the end of the hall. Did he dare chase after the others?
Freya appeared beside him and grabbed his hands. “Come see it. They keep the best things in the basement, and excitement makes the ache less. I promise.”
Rase nodded and then stepped over the invisible divide between allowed and not allowed. He had to see the basement.
The group hurried toward the back of the mansion. Without slowing, Rase glanced over his shoulder just as the girl slipped into the dining room. He’d have to try to tell her hello sometime. Maybe he wouldn’t scare her away. She could probably use a friend.
He turned back toward the others. After one hundred yards, the corridor opened into an atrium with a waterfall to one side. The cascading water fed a large pool. The tall atrium must be housed in the tower Rase noticed when he arrived.
Rase halted beside the water feature, leaning over the imitation rock to peer into the depths. “What is this?”
“Feather stars,” Freya sighed.
Kumiko elbowed Roger. “Sea dragons. You know how much you like dragons.”
“I’d rather see the mermaids,” Roger countered, wagging his brows.
Academy of Magic Collection Page 6