Academy of Magic Collection

by Angelique S Anderson et al.

  All she had was her gut. And her gut told her that Blade was telling the truth.

  “And secondly, he’s become aggressive and distracted. Even his own students can see something is wrong.” Jonathan’s gaze was back on the dean now, but Eve still felt the lingering effects of it. Her skin tingled and burned, her breaths were shallow and uneven.

  Even possessed, he was still too beautiful for his own good.

  “That must be why he killed Henry,” Jonathan added after giving the information time to settle. “Henry was one of his best students. A very astute young man. Had he figured out what was going on…”

  He let the remainder of the sentence hang in the air between them.

  The dean rose from his chair, pushing it back slightly and placing his hands on the desk. “I will open an inquiry. But if it is what you say-” He glanced at Eve for the first time since she gave her testimony. “There is little the school can do. The reincarnation of Faust must banish the demon.”

  Jonathan stood and Eve followed him. Surely, they had been there long enough to let Blade escape with the book. Now it was time to gather Grace and find him again. And Jonathan couldn’t be around for that.

  “I, uh-” She struggled to come up with an excuse to leave his side. Her body craved his presence, his touch. “I’m not feeling well. It’s been an intense two hours. I should probably go back to my dorm room and lay down.”

  Jonathan’s glassy sapphire eyes looked her up and down. “You appear to be holding up quite well.”

  Something in the way he spoke, the husk that found its way into his voice, told her his mind was no longer focused on dead students.

  Once they were out of the dean’s office and in the empty hallway, he turned toward her and pinned her arms to the wall.

  Panic flooded her mind; her veins ran cold. He was going to kill her. This was it. And there was no summoning circle, no Blade, no Grace, to protect her. Slowly she moved her hand into the pocket of her jeans, her fingers wrapping around the handle of the blade she’d taken from Jonathan’s office.

  But then his lips crashed into hers and the ice under her skin melted until it was replaced by burning fire.

  He pulled back enough to look into her eyes. “Maybe you should come lay down in my office instead.”

  Eve debated it. Sure, he was possessed by a demon, but he was also really fucking hot. What were the chances that once the demon was gone, he’d ever want her again? She figured they were probably slim to none. This was her one chance.

  But as she debated, he blinked, and the golden glint replaced his blue eyes.

  This wasn’t him. This wasn’t right.

  She shrugged out from under his hold. “Raincheck?” she called out behind her as she hurried away from him.

  “Eyes on the prize, Revere,” she reminded herself as soon as she was out of earshot. “And this time the prize is survival.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  The hallway outside of her dorm room was eerily quiet. The sound of Grace’s R&B music was gone. The smell of burning sage was absent.

  Hell, even the feeling she got when Grace was around seemed to be just an empty void now.

  So she knew, before she even opened the door, that Grace was gone.

  But she didn’t know how gone.

  She’d hoped Grace had just taken a walk or went for food. But all those hopes faded at the sight of the bare twin mattress and empty closet on the other side of the room.

  She couldn’t blame her. The pain Grace was going through must have been much harder when she was left alone in this room. With the memories of all their almost moments. Their missed connections. The nights when Grace’s nightmares took hold and she climbed into Eve’s bed. The days spent listening to music together while they studied for the next exam.

  It had only been a few months, but all those memories would have been enough to drive anyone mad when they were tainted by the sting of unrequited love.

  It wasn’t even that it was unrequited, just that Eve couldn’t bring herself to let Grace have the hope it would be returned. Not with her attraction to Jonathan making her question everything. Not with the possibility that all she would do would be break the heart of the most caring, graceful, beautiful girl she’d ever met.

  She’d have to do this without Grace. Somehow her own powers would have to be enough.

  She was the reincarnation of the most powerful sorcerer in history, she tried to remind herself. It didn't work. She didn’t quite believe it herself.

  After everything she’d been through, she still believed that she was nothing special.

  “Evie,” a voice hissed from down the hall. She moved towards the doorway to see Blade peering in at her from the elevator lobby. “Are you alone?”

  She looked around at the empty dorm. Obviously, she was, but after the day she’d had, she was having a hard time trusting anything to be as it seemed.

  Remembering the protective circle Grace placed around the room, Eve had an idea.

  If she could get Blade to come into the room, it would prove to her once and for all that he wasn’t the demon.

  “I’m not sure. People watch the halls. Come into the room.” She motioned towards the open door in front of her.

  Blade squared his shoulders and didn’t move forward. “I do not feel comfortable with this. It is inappropriate for a professor to enter a student’s dorm room.”

  Distrust grew in Eve’s stomach, knotting and twisting its way through her insides. “Do you plan on doing anything inappropriate?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “I would never,” he said with a hand over his chest in horror. “Your mother would haunt me from the grave.”

  “Then it’s all good, Baz.” She emphasized the nickname.

  He cringed but took a few steps forward. “Please don’t call me that.”

  “Then don’t call me Evie. That’s only for Mom to use.”

  She watched closely as one of his feet fell directly at the line of the doorway.

  Just a few more inches and her worries would be put to rest.

  The suspense was killing her.

  Her hands shook and she had to clasp them behind her back.

  Oblivious to her discomfort, he took another step past her.

  It was done.

  He’d given her the proof she needed that he wasn’t lying.

  That he wasn’t possessed.

  With that worry behind her, her brain clicked into action mode and she closed the door behind him.

  “Okay, now. What do I need to do? How do I summon Faust? Do we need objects or is it a simple circle? Will there be a physical battle or once I summon him will the demon just leave? And what happens to Jonathan once the demon is gone?”

  Blade held up his hands to stop her. “Slow down, Evangeline. One thing at a time.”

  “But you’ve been through this before,” she said as she sorted through the books on her bed looking for the one she’d found on summoning other magicians. “You know how this works. I’m going in blind.”

  He put one hand on top of hers to stop her frantic searching. “The books you were sent to find were a distraction. Everything you need is here.” He held out the Compendium Maleficarum.

  She grabbed it with shaking hands and almost dropped it. Her stupid hands wouldn’t cooperate. Some famous reincarnation she was. Some savior of the school. She couldn’t even make her hands work right.

  “Page 354,” he said calmly.

  As she read, he recounted it from memory. “The summoning circle must be outside in the quad. The fountains are a source of power and the circle will draw from them. You’ll need each one. Every type of magic. Herbalism, the Beasts, the Music...”

  He paced the room, his fingers running over the various objects she’d acquired as decorations. A statue of Faust, a mug of coffee left over from that morning, a scented candle that was supposed to induce relaxation. Until he settled on a picture of her family. Her mother and father standing behind her, e
ach with a hand on her shoulders.

  She loved that picture. It was when she was tapped for the honors society in tenth grade. Her mother looked fully alive. One of the rare moments she ever saw her smile.

  “She looks happy,” he said wistfully.

  “Focus, Sebastian.”

  He shook his head and turned away from the picture. “Yes, you’re right. More important things.” He coughed and continued giving her directions. “Jonathan will not walk into the circle on his own, not if he knows it is there. But he will have to enter of his own free will for the exorcism to work.” He turned to Eve. “This is the part that is most dangerous for you. You will have to somehow lure him in.”

  Her heart slammed against her ribcage. She was cunning and smart. She had the business sense of a used car salesman. She should be able to do this. But it was Jonathan. And all her wit seemed to go out the window when he was around.

  She’d sooner be walking into walls and tripping over her own words than be able to convince him to do anything.

  She swallowed down the knot of fear rising in her throat. “Does it have to be at night? Jonathan said-”

  “Everything Jonathan told you was a lie.”

  Eve took a deep breath and tried to steady herself. There was no way Blade would know how hard those words hit her. How much pain they caused. There was no way he knew how much she wanted at least some of what Jonathan said to be true. At least the part where he wanted her.

  “Got it, so we do this now?”

  “Before anyone else gets hurt, Eve.”

  She’d hoped she had time. That she could put it off somehow. She wasn’t ready. She just wasn’t.

  Somehow, she made one foot go in front of the other and went down to the quad. Blade followed, the Compendium Maleficarum tightly in his grasp.

  She’d memorized the circle while he talked. She knew what she had to do.

  The switchblade sat heavy in her pocket. Instead of protecting her now, she knew it could bring about her death if she wasn’t careful. If the summon went wrong. If Faust didn’t appear. If Jonathan, or rather Phylis, got to her before the magic did.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The quad was empty, save for a few stragglers who either hadn’t heard about the recent death or didn’t care about any possible danger. Most had decided they were safer indoors, around each other, somewhere their disappearance would be noticed.

  Most heard the rumors about Blade and ran the other way when they saw them coming.

  That was fine. It made it easier to do what they needed to do.

  But it made Eve wonder how it felt to be Blade right then. How he must feel for people to be so scared of him despite doing nothing wrong.

  The grouchy old man was growing on her, despite her best efforts to fight it.

  In the center of the quad, she sat down on the dirt path and looked around. Every fountain was in view, although they were quite far away. If she listened closely, she could hear the waves of Lake Marlowe.

  She closed her eyes. “If I have to pick a spot to die,” she said to no one in particular, “this is as good as any.”

  Her hands were oddly still as she retrieved the letter opener from her pocket.

  One life for the lives of many. If this was her destiny, then she would go down with honor and respect.

  She dragged the cold, dull blade across the palm of her hand and ruby red liquid welled up and over the torn pieces of flesh.

  Turning her hand over and making a fist, she started to make the circle. When the blood began to clot, she sliced her other palm.

  Eve was growing weak and lightheaded by the time all the runes were drawn around the edges. Both hands, the inside of both elbows, and both of her feet bared the wounds of her sacrifice.

  Just a little blood loss, she thought to herself. Nothing major. You’ve given blood at blood drives before; this is no different.

  Wearily she lifted her head and looked at Blade. “Will this stay if I cover it with dirt? Will the power still work?”

  If she wasn’t mistaken, there were tears in the professor’s eyes. “Yes. Do you have a plan?”

  “I’m just gonna wing it.” It was hard to speak, her energy completely gone.

  He looked back at the path that led to the academic buildings. “You better wing it fast. I don’t believe it will be long until Jonathan shows his face. He will sense something is amiss”

  Eve hoped so. The wounds were no longer clotting like they should and if she waited too long there might not be a reincarnation of Faust to perform the summoning. “You may want to speed things along.”

  She reached down and began to cover her blood circle with dirt, all except for the growing puddle underneath her. Blade bent down, his fancy Victorian jacket grazing the ground and becoming soiled as he lifted handful after handful of dirt until the circle was completely covered.

  He took the knife from where she’d discarded it beside her. “Without you there is no stopping me,” he shouted so loudly that it scared the nearby wildlife and sent birds flying from the trees. “With you gone, the vicious circle will end, and Faust will finally have to pay what the devil is due.”

  It worked. The sound of feet running, scattering, echoed through the quad. Students who had previously braved a look outside now ran for help.

  Help that would hopefully come in the form of Jonathan Moore.

  Eve clenched her fists tight, although it made the blood run faster. The other wounds could have been inflicted by Blade, but those were obvious tells to what they were doing and if Jonathan saw, their entire plan would be ruined. Everything she’d sacrificed so far would be for nothing.

  She saw his curls before she saw his face. Bouncing in the breeze as he ran toward them, as if they weren’t evil demon curls.

  She allowed herself one last time to wish none of this was happening. That he was a normal professor at a normal school, and she was just a normal girl with a crush she shouldn’t have.

  One last time she let herself imagine what it would be like if they’d met in another place, another time.

  “Jonathan, help,” she yelled as Blade leaned over her, knife pressed tightly against her throat.

  He stopped and knelt on the dirt path. The glove on his right hand, which held its own form of a portable summoning circle, glowed with a warm blue light as it activated. There was a gust of what looked like dirt and wind. As it flew closer, she realized it was some sort of spirit, and she watched helplessly as it rammed into Blade’s chest and knocked him backward to the ground.

  Jonathan ran up and grabbed her, his eyes now green again rather than that menacing gold. “Eve, are you okay?”

  “He’s trying to kill me,” she said as she glared at Blade’s crumpled figure outside of the circle.

  She just needed Jonathan to stay put long enough to press her palms to the circle and start the activation.

  “Let’s get you out of here,” he said placing his hands under her knees and shoulders.

  “No,” she said meekly. “Don’t move me. I’m too weak. I don’t think I’ll make it.”

  It wasn’t quite a lie, although it did have a double motive.

  She opened her hands and the realization hit him. His eyes shifted and transformed into a metallic gleam. “You bitch,” he hissed as he tried to scramble away from her.

  But her hands were down. The edges of the circle were forming. There was nowhere for him to go.

  “I’m sorry, Jonathan,” she said as she moved her hands in a half circle. “I have to do this.”

  Try as she might, no matter how much blood spilled, no matter how much concentration and energy she put into it, the runes wouldn’t activate.

  She wasn’t sure if it was the blood loss or that she just sucked at magic, but nothing she did would summon Faust. And it was only a matter of time before Jonathan attacked.

  As he moved, it was evident something was wrong with his eyes.

  The gold and the green were flashing back and forth.
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  “Leave her alone,” he shouted.

  She looked around. He was the threat here. Who the hell was he talking to?

  When his voice came again it was little more than a whisper. “The reincarnation is minnnneeeee. I will drag her to her rightful place in hell.”

  He moved forward, the gold now solidly in place.

  But then his feet stilled, his arms wrapping tightly around his midsection. “No, I won’t let you. Not in this body. Not ever.” He flung himself against the wall of the circle. His back hit it with a thud, and he fell to the ground.

  Eve realized that Jonathan must have been fighting against the demon. The human professor was somehow strong enough to maintain consciousness and some control of his body over the ancient entity.

  It bought her time, but she wasn’t sure how much. Jonathan may have been strong, but he couldn’t hold Phylis off forever and the stupid runes still wouldn’t activate.

  She tried again, pulling on every bit of magic power she could find but nothing happened.

  Outside of the circle she watched Blade rise from the ground and look down the path. She followed his gaze until she spotted Grace.

  Grace was focused on some object right outside of the circle. A wavy silhouette, a person, but not quite a person. Transparent and solid all at once.

  The figure moved closer to the circle and turned to Blade. It was her mother and she was speaking but she couldn’t hear her from this distance.

  The tears she’d seen in Blade’s eyes before were no longer kept at bay. They were spilling over his face.

  Blade held the letter opener out to Grace, who took it willingly and began to pierce her own flesh.

  She slammed her palms down onto the circle and the fountain closest to them lit up in a blaze of red energy. Then the next. And the next. Until each fountain was streaming different colors of light into the circle and activating the runes.

  Grace, in all her beauty and poise, entered the circle. The entire thing erupted into a blinding white light as the figure of Faust appeared.

  Eve felt the grip of hands on her arms, but the light was too bright. She couldn’t see who had her. And then she was moving backward, leaving the circle. “Grace,” she called out as loud as she could. “Grace, no!”