Academy of Magic Collection

by Angelique S Anderson et al.

  “Forget about Blade, and tonight we’ll celebrate when it’s all said and done.”

  “Yeah,” she started, considering the time she could spend with Grace before everything else went to shit. And then she remembered. “No…”

  “No?” Grace took her hand away and stepped away slightly.

  “No, not like that,” Eve said quickly, not wanting Grace to feel insulted. “It’s just… I have plans.”

  Grace’s brows hit her forehead. “When did you find the time to make plans?”

  Eve registered something was off, but couldn’t quite place it. “You’d be surprised. His name’s Jonathan and--”

  “Jonathan?” Grace said the name with distaste.

  “Yeah, he’s this gorgeous upperclassman.”

  “Oh, I see.” The muscles in Grace’s jaw became rigid.

  Eve had never seen someone so soft grow cold so quickly. “What is it?”

  “Never mind,” Grace said hastily. “I have to get going.”

  “But what about lunch?”

  “I’m not very hungry anymore.” She shrugged and changed her path towards the dormitories, already walking away as she spoke. “Good luck on your last exam, Eve.”

  “Thanks, you too,” she responded, but Grace was already out of earshot.

  Eve’s appetite for lunch dissipated just as quickly as Grace’s, and instead of heading towards the cafeteria she turned towards the training fields.

  Maybe she’d tell Jonathan getting coffee was a bad idea, she decided as she trudged her way towards her final Summoning exam. There was clearly something about him that Grace didn’t like, so maybe there was something Eve was overlooking because of the blue eyes and brown curls. Grace was the only person at Faust that Eve genuinely cared about. She was the one person who made her feel a little less alone. She wasn’t going to ruin it. If it meant breaking off coffee with Jonathan, then so be it.

  That’s what she’d do, she decided as she entered the dirt circle designated for the Summoning test. Once she got through this last task, she’d seek him out and tell him it was a bad idea and--

  “Welcome to your Summoning field test, Faust University freshmen.”

  Eve stopped short the moment she heard the familiar Irish inflection.

  “My name is Professor Jonathan Moore, and I’ll be overseeing your final exam.”

  Chapter Nine

  Eve couldn’t hide even if she tried, and Jonathan-- no, Professor Moore-- had already seen her arrive.

  He stood in the center of a pre-drawn summoning circle not in a button-down shirt or jeans but a three-piece suit similar to those worn by Henry and Professor Blade.

  Eve hated the thoughts that ran through her mind, especially as she was now face-to-face with not an upperclassman as she had assumed, but an actual teacher who was going to determine her future at Faust University. Was this what Grace meant? Did she know? Eve couldn’t figure out how she could have, but suddenly everything was beginning to make sense.

  And Eve felt like an absolute dumbass because of it.

  Whether he sensed her unease or was completely ignoring her, Professor Jonathan Moore showed no sign of recognition as he walked around the circle. His hands were clasped behind his back as he assessed the students on the outskirts of the circle who awaited his instructions for the Summoning exam. He possessed the same smile that had first caught Eve’s attention, and his eyes sparkled with some internal delight and enchantment that made her want to continue to stare into them.

  She wanted to hate him for it.

  And she would, too. As soon as the exam was over.

  “Summoning,” he continued as though nothing was amiss, “is the magical art of calling forth spirits for the sake of spiritual inspiration, to do the bidding of the Summoner, or to provide information for a certain cause.

  “For this exam, each of you will take your place in the center of the circle, and you will be given the opportunity to summon a spirit.”

  “Like a Ouija board?” a voice asked from the crowd.

  Professor Moore turned towards the inquisitive student and offered that same reassuring smile and a wink. “But much more practical.”

  With a wave of his hand, the outer rim of the summoning circle glowed red, causing the students to take a step back. Professor Moore remained calm, almost appearing amused. “Just as you’re going to be within the circle, we want to ensure what you bring forth stays there.”

  Eve was painfully curious about the power that seemed to emanate from him once he waved his hand and allowed it to show itself--as if there was a part of her that responded, like calling to like.

  On his hand, a glove with a familiar symbol began to glow a slightly greenish color that she couldn’t look away from.

  “Your test will be graded on how quickly you can summon the spirit in the time allotted, the complexity of its ethereal form upon that summoning, and the coherency of the spirit during its summoning.”

  “So, we actually need to talk to it?” a student that Eve could only describe as a wannabe frat boy blurted out nearby.

  “Oh, indeed,” Professor Moore purred in that Irish drawl that made Eve shiver. “But no worries, the conversations will be kept private within the circle lest your deepest, darkest secrets be revealed.”

  An uneasy laughter passed through the crowd, but Eve found nothing funny about the assignment.

  “Who wants to start?”

  The laughter quickly died.

  Eve had the chance to summon a spirit and ask it a question.

  After everything she and Grace had just discovered about their parents’ histories at Faust University, it almost seemed too easy.

  “I’ll go first,” she blurted out. Every head turned towards her.

  Even Professor Jonathan Moore’s.

  “By all means, Ms. Revere,” he said with a flourish, allowing the red magical barrier to waver before it dissipated in front of her. “Enter the circle, please.”

  Eve swallowed, looking between the magical clearing and the professor watching her with anticipation. Jonathan looked almost too eager to see what she would do next, and she silently swore she would make him regret not telling her who he really was. Maybe she’d summon a spirit to possess him...

  “Whenever you’re ready, Ms. Revere,” Professor Moore said with an amused grin on those damn irresistible lips.

  She took a defiant step into the circle.

  The red power behind her swirled and closed, sealing her in. Despite the magical walls being translucent and the blue sky above her, Eve was beginning to feel claustrophobic. Resisting the shudder that threatened to course through her, she moved, step by step, towards the center of the circle. Looking down as she walked, she noticed the circle wasn’t drawn onto the dirt, but looked as if it was burned through the soil. Another magical side effect, no doubt.

  She sat at the center of the circle, legs crossed and eyes closed.

  She could do this. She had to do this.

  Slowly, she let out a deep breath and concentrated.

  Eve tried to block it all out-- the stares from the other students, the presence of the professor, the knowledge she learned within the hall of trophies. She instead worked on focusing on her own thoughts and memories and mentally pictured the Rose Revere she knew and remembered.

  The one she knew she needed to speak to the most, the one who would have all the answers about what the hell happened at Faust all those years ago and why Eve would be there now.

  Come on, Mom, Eve silently begged as she felt her jaw tense and her head ache from her intense concentration. She didn’t know how much time went by or how much time she was allowed, but by the muffled sounds on the outside of the circle, she could tell she was taking far longer than they’d have liked.

  She wasn’t going to give up. She couldn’t. This was her last chance to show them she belonged there. To show Blade, Moore, and everyone else that she was worth the time. Even if she failed at everything else, at least in this she
could tell Grace she tried.

  And she tried and tried.

  Just when she was ready to give up, to open her eyes and stand, to step away from it all, she felt it. Like a gust of wind that took her breath away, she felt the power flow through her, almost past her. She was afraid to open her eyes or even move until she heard the familiar voice.

  “Evangeline?”

  Eve’s eyes flew open. Standing before her, wearing the same dress she was buried in, was the all-but-corporeal form of Rosamund Revere.

  “Mom?” Eve rasped out, unable to hold back her tears.

  “Evie, baby.” Her mother’s voice was sad, disappointed. Eve felt like she’d just shown her a D in English rather than summoned her spirit from the dead.

  “Mom- I- We- You-” Eve couldn’t settle on any sentence that came to mind. There was so much she needed to ask. So little time. So many people watching.

  The spirit of her mother moved unnaturally fast toward her and Eve found herself taking a step back from the figure who looked like her mother, sounded like her mother, but moved like the monsters in a nightmare. “Eve, you shouldn’t be here. Get out of Faust as quickly as possible.”

  “Mom, why didn’t you tell me about Faust? About any of this? What happened? How-”

  Her mother cut off her line of questioning as the figure’s attention was caught by something outside of the circle.

  Eve turned her head in time to see Jonathan take a step back, and no sooner had she glimpsed Grace appearing on the outside of the circle than her mother’s face contorted and twisted into something evil, something terrifying.

  Long, needle-like teeth jutted out of her mouth and her eyes became large black discs as the figure clawed at the edges of the circle, tearing tiny slits into the curtain of magic that surrounded them.

  Eve took another step back but hesitated. Within the wall of red magic, she was trapped with that thing that was clearly no longer her mother. It probably never was, and now she was stuck and she was going to die.

  But if she escaped, so too would her not-mother.

  “Grace, watch out,” she yelled, but her dorm mate didn’t seem to hear her through the red walls of magic. In a panic, Eve scrambled as far as she could to the other side and pressed her back to the magical field that still refused to budge. On the other side Jonathan continued backing away from the circle, his fear evident in every sharp line of his face.

  “You fool,” Professor Blade screamed as he rushed into the training grounds, using his arm to push Jonathan out of the way. “You should have known this was coming.”

  Blade reached the circle and gestured wildly with his arms before slamming his palms into the ground. An orange flow of magic surrounded the summoning circle and pulsed in and out around it.

  Eve couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. As the cold beating rhythm of the magic flowed through her chest, she felt it in every single centimeter of her body before an explosion of light and sound cut off her consciousness.

  Chapter Ten

  As Eve came to, she no longer felt the cold dirt of the training ground biting into her back, but instead, the hard mattress of an uncomfortable cot supported her. Before she could open her eyes, a voice cut through the darkness.

  “What did you expect, Jonathan? You put the daughter of Faust’s last incarnation into the summoning circle and expected her to summon who? Elvis Presley?”

  Blade’s tone matched the arrogant way he talked to her during her tests, as if he always had to be the smartest man in the room. And yet, Jonathan, or rather, Professor Moore would have--should have-- been his equal, so what would give him the right to talk to him like a mere student?

  “She shouldn’t have been able to, Sebastian. You know that. Only a reincarnation of Faust can summon another reincarnation.”

  Eve opened her eyes at the revelation. It must have occurred to Blade at the same time because as soon as she did, she met his intense stare and within it, she saw not fear or reverence, but pity.

  Next to him, Grace was closely watching her every movement. Seeing that she was awake, Grace quickly covered her still slightly limp body in a tight embrace.

  “I—" Grace stammered through tears, “I thought you died.”

  Eve’s voice was strained as she tried to speak. “It’s going to take more than that to kill a Revere.”

  Grace’s relieved laughter shook Eve’s entire body until she pulled away to look her in the eyes. “Don’t scare me like that ever again.”

  A thought occurred to Eve as the honeyed milk of Grace’s eyes melted her insides. “Wait, you already took your summoning exam. Why were you here?”

  “I guess you could call it blind hope. I’ve known since day one I’d probably be placed in summoning. And… well, I wanted to be there when you passed so we could be together.”

  “Together as in?”

  Jonathan coughed pointedly and the girls turned toward him. “This is all well and nice, but Grace, if you don’t mind, I need to speak with Evangeline alone.”

  Eve tightened her grip on Grace. “Anything you say to me you can say to her.”

  She felt Grace’s shoulders relax, but her expression remained fierce as she glared at Jonathan.

  Blade shot him a look that said nothing short of it being a bad idea, but in an instant, the Jonathan who was concerned and cheerful seemed to slip into his Professor Moore persona. His back straightened, his arms crossed, and his tone turned serious as his gaze focused on Professor Blade.

  “What happened just now, it changes things,” he said as he paced in a circle around them. “Eve must be a reincarnation of Faust. And her appearance here set off a chain of events that will affect each and every person on campus.”

  “I know the story,” Eve said coldly, interjecting into the conversation. Even if they were going to talk about her like she wasn’t there, she should at least have some input. “Henry explained it to us when I found out about my mother.”

  Jonathan tapped an index finger against the strong arm within his formal jacket. “So you know you’ve just released a demon into the school that will terrorize the students and eventually attempt to kill you?”

  “So?” Eve snapped.

  “So,” Jonathan growled, “it is now going to be your responsibility to track down the demon and ensure it doesn’t find a home in some unsuspecting victim on campus.”

  “If it hasn’t already,” Blade chimed in.

  Something unsaid passed between the two professors, like a tension wire ready to snap. Jonathan’s gaze remained on Blaze as he spoke. “Can I speak to you for a moment, Professor?”

  “But I thought you wanted to speak to me?” Eve reminded him.

  “In a moment, Ms. Revere,” Moore said with that same serious tone. “I insist, Sebastian.”

  Blade looked between the women and Moore and frowned as he huffed and begrudgingly followed Professor Moore from the infirmary room.

  Eve waited until they were out of earshot before she turned to Grace. “What the hell is going on?” she whispered.

  “I think this is my fault,” Grace said as she sat on the edge of Eve’s bed.

  “Why would you say that?”

  “Because I may have helped you with your summoning.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Grace was worrying at her fingernails. “I didn’t want you to fail. I didn’t want you to leave.”

  “Grace,” Eve whispered, taking her hands between her own. The contact immediately brought Grace’s eyes up to meet Eve’s gaze, and Eve almost forgot what she was going to say.

  Almost.

  “Grace, what did you do?”

  With a swallow, Grace licked her lips. “I helped you with your summoning.”

  “Grace,” Eve hissed, holding her hands tighter, bringing Grace closer to her. The scent of coconut was almost intoxicating, but she had to concentrate. “What did you do?”

  She could see tears forming in Grace’s eyes. “I finished m
y music exam early and I knew you had summoning last. You were so discouraged, and I hated seeing you like that so I wanted to come and watch your test and see if I could help…”

  “So by help, you mean you conjured my mother?”

  “I helped you conjure your mother.”

  “If that’s the case, then that means you… you’re…”

  “No, it doesn’t.” She sat up, abruptly pulling her hands away. Eve frowned. “You were summoning, too. It could have been either of us. And considering your family history--”

  Eve shook her head. “I’m not anything special. Whatever happened to my mother while she was here, it didn’t come home with her and I certainly didn’t get any of it. Hell, your left pinky has more power than me.”

  “But even so, you’re special, Eve. I know you are. I knew it the moment I saw you.”

  Eve’s cheeks flushed. “Grace--”

  “We have a lot of work to do.”

  Both girls spun at the sound of Jonathan returning to the room.

  “Where’s Professor Blade?” Grace asked.

  “Marching across campus in a rage, most likely, which is all the more reason why we need to get started.”

  “With what?” Eve asked, swinging her legs over the edge of the narrow infirmary bed. Her head was still a little foggy, but nothing a few Tylenol couldn’t cure.

  “I told you we’d have to track down this demon, and I think I know exactly where we need to begin.”

  Eve and Grace shared a curious glance and Professor Moore let out an exasperated sigh.

  “Isn’t it obvious? It’s clearly found a home within Sebastian Blade.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The stack of books on Eve’s bed created a wall between her and the rest of the dorm room. Professor Moore had given them a list of titles to gather from the campus library while he did some researching of his own. Together she and Grace split the list in two until both of their arms were laden with books.

  Grace, rather than sifting through literature on demonic lore, was instead walking circles around the interior of their room, waving a smoking handful of what looked like a bundle of dried herbs and sticks.