When I discreetly glanced at Penelope’s table, I noticed the bright-haired witch had already managed to open her book, and so had Beatrix. However, the poor twins were still struggling with the task, and I could tell they were losing their patience.
Just then, Penelope accidentally caught my eye, and she flushed an even deeper shade of red before she turned away.
I wondered how long she would continue feeling embarrassed about last night, and I hoped it would pass quickly. I knew deep down that she craved to feel the same way as Faye had, and soon, she would finally give in to her wild desires and submit herself to me.
I was fucking sure of it.
“Now that most of you have opened your books to the correct page,” Theodora began and drew my attention back to the lesson, “we’ll move on to the next course of action… telepathy. Who would like to read what is on the page? Anyone besides Miss Morgana, that is.”
The class went quiet as Theodora scanned the room, but then her ice blue eyes fell on me, and her lips twitched into a small smile.
“Cole?” she drawled. “Would you please read the passage on telepathy?”
“Sure,” I answered with a shrug.
My eyes flicked down to the page, and again, I studied the strange woman on the sheet before I cleared my throat and began to read aloud.
“Telepathy is considered to be one of the most difficult aspects of premonition,” I recited. “Not every Wicca, warlock, or magical creature can possess or control such a skill. It is considered a rare talent and can take years to master. If misused or abused in any way, it can kill you in a matter of seconds. To gain insight into someone else’s inner thoughts and desires, you must use all your energy to absorb their aura, and when you think you’ve opened up the gates to their mind, you may read whatever they’re thinking.”
“Precisely,” Theodora answered with her chin raised. “Again, for this next assignment, I’ll warn you not to be disheartened if you cannot read your partner’s thoughts clearly on the first try, so go easy on yourselves. I don’t want anyone’s head to literally explode in my classroom. Now, I want you all to pair off with someone and be quick about it. Oh, and I don’t want you to think of something simple like a color… dig a little deeper this time. We are layered creatures, and there are dark secrets that are locked away in our minds… try to pry open that lock and dig inside. This technique will be a little more trying than the others, considering there is no incantation involved. You must simply use the power of your naked mind. Now, go on. Pair off.”
I nodded and turned to look at my coven, but Theodora quickly darted over to us and placed her hand on the table.
“Actually, I would prefer if you all paired off with someone from the other team,” she said in a faint voice. “I’ll take one of the twins… Satan knows they need extra help.”
“Yes, Headmistress.” I nodded.
Without hesitation, I marched over to Penelope’s table and took a seat next to her, and as soon as she saw me, she dramatically rolled her brown eyes.
“Great,” she mumbled. “It’s you.”
“Don’t pretend like you’re disappointed.” I smirked.
“Whatever,” she sighed and refused to look at me. “Can we please just get this over with?”
“Sure.” I shrugged. “Do you want to go first?”
“Fine,” she growled with her arms crossed.
I chuckled to myself before I gently sat back in my seat and placed my hands behind my head, and Penelope squirmed in her seat as she turned to face me.
“Well, get on with it.” I smirked as the bright-haired witch stared long and hard at me and furrowed her orange eyebrows.
Her pretty face twisted and contorted with frustration, and her hands trembled by her sides as she fought to enter inside my mind.
“I-I think I see something,” she muttered as she raised her hands and pressed them against her temples.
“Stop overthinking,” I reminded her. “Just focus on me.”
She took in a sharp breath and then steadied her trembling hands, and as I stared into her chocolate brown eyes, she parted her lips and started to breathe normally. She was finally at ease, and then after a long moment, her eyes widened in shock.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I could see bloody rain,” Penelope muttered. “I saw cloaked women, and a black forest, but the rain… it was thick and metallic… I could almost taste it on the tip of my tongue.”
“That was a memory,” I replied with a nod. “My first night here.”
“You mean… it worked?” She grinned. “I did it?”
“You did it.” I smiled in return.
“Fuck, yeah!” she exclaimed before she slammed her hand down on the desk. Then the satisfied witch turned to look at me and leaned forward. “Now, do me.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” I smirked. “You seemed to enjoy the show last night, so I was wondering when you’d ask.”
“O-Oh, shut up and just do the spell,” Penelope stuttered as her face flamed a bright red.
“Alright, alright,” I snickered and sat up straighter in my seat. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch.”
Penelope grumbled under her breath and shifted uneasily in her seat, but I let my laughter die down as I focused on the orange-haired witch before me. Then I inhaled sharply and looked deeply into her large brown eyes, and I was so close to her face that I caught wisps of her lavender and rose perfume and could count the small, barely-there freckles across her cheeks.
As I stared long and hard at the beautiful but secretive witch, I began to see past the fog of her mind. She had stone walls preventing me from entering her consciousness, but I fought against them and was able to break them down. When I finally broke into her thoughts, I thought I could see something in the distance. It appeared as if there were two naked bodies entangled with each other, and it took me a moment to recognize the pair.
It was Penelope and me. We were fucking in a dark room, and I was on top of her and thrusting deep into her pussy as she cried out for me to fill her up with my cum. I smiled to myself as I watched the two of us screwing like wild animals, and when I was pulled out of the fantasy, I smirked at the orange-haired witch.
“What?” she asked, and her orange eyebrows pinched together in confusion. “What did you see?”
“I saw us,” I replied in a cool tone. “We were having sex.”
“What?” Penelope shrieked so loudly that several students turned to look at us with raised eyebrows.
“I’m just reporting what I saw.” I smirked and raised my hands in mock defense.
The embarrassed witch flushed a deep shade of purplish-pink and then leaned in closer to whisper. “That can’t be possible.”
“Desires are a part of the mind, are they not?” I grinned.
“W-Whatever,” she stuttered, and she scooted her chair a few inches away from me. “Don’t overthink it.”
“Oh, I won’t,” I chuckled, “but you sure will.”
Penelope flushed an even deeper shade of red, and then she turned away from me with her arms crossed and a pout on her lips.
“Whatever,” she mumbled.
Before I could say another word, Theodora clapped her hands together and then looked around the room with a satisfied smile.
“Well done, class,” she remarked. “That’s it for today. Most of you are dismissed, and I highly suggest you read more of the texts. It may help you if you’re struggling more than most. Have a ghoulishly pleasant day, now!”
“But Headmistress,” a short witch with dark purple hair and pink skin squealed. “What about the other two skills?”
“You mean psychoscopy and telesthesia?” Theodora asked with her head tilted to the side. “I’m afraid that’s only for more advanced students… with minor exceptions, of course.”
It didn’t take a premonition genius to guess that the two Scholomance teams were the minor exceptions.
“Oh,” the witch who had spoken up
muttered, and she slumped in her seat.
“Alright, off with you, now,” Theodora said as she waved her hands. “Off with you!”
The rest of the class rushed off while the two Scholomance teams remained in their mismatched seats, and then Penelope turned to look at me.
“Is she seriously going to teach us psychoscopy and telesthesia?” she asked with wide brown eyes.
“I don’t see why not.” I shrugged. “They’re going to be crucial components of the game, aren’t they?”
“I suppose…” she answered slowly. “That doesn’t make me feel any less nervous, though.”
“You’ll be fine,” I reassured her with a wink. “If you’re as brilliant as you are hot, then you shouldn’t have a problem.”
Penelope flushed and then looked around the room. It was empty now, and when I glanced at my coven, I could tell they were nervous.
“Now, now,” Theodora tutted. “Don’t look so miserable, for hell’s sake.”
“A-Apologies, Headmistress,” Morgana stuttered. “It’s just that… well, you said so yourself, the last two abilities of premonition are usually reserved for more advanced students.”
“And?” Theodora asked with a raised eyebrow. “Do you not already consider yourselves to be more advanced than the rest of your class?”
“I suppose so,” Morgana murmured after a long moment.
“So, stop complaining and follow me,” Theodora instructed. “We’ll be heading down into the deep dungeon… and it’s a long walk, so let’s get a move on, shall we?”
The others turned pale and then exchanged terrified looks with one another, and I seemed to be the only one who wasn’t shaking in their boots.
“What’s in the deep dungeon?” I asked.
“Oh, just the usual,” Theodora replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Nothing to fret about.”
“It’s where the professors keep the deadliest creatures and prisoners,” Penelope hissed into my ear.
“Ah.” I nodded. That sounded about right, but we’d dealt with worse before, so we could do this, too.
When no one made a move to leave, Theodora snapped her fingers impatiently in our direction.
“Daylight is wasting,” she scoffed, and she sounded very much like her daughter right then. “Let’s get a move on.”
The headmistress swirled her skirts and headed toward one of her cabinets pressed against the stone wall. Then she muttered something under her breath, and the piece of furniture gently moved aside to reveal a stone door. As Theodora stared at the entrance, it slowly swung open, and then she turned to look at us.
“Let’s have some fun.” She grinned just before she slipped into the unknown.
I didn’t know exactly what was lurking down there, but whatever it was, I knew it was going to push us to our absolute limits.
Even if it killed us.
But I wasn’t about to back down from a challenge.
Chapter 9
Theodora hadn’t been exaggerating about the dungeons.
We’d been walking down countless flights of stairs for I didn’t know how long, and the air was growing danker and colder by the minute. The headmistress lit our way with her wand, but there wasn’t much to see anyway. The pale stone steps were cracked and covered in moss and grit, the stone walls were the same color and texture as the steps, and the only difference between them was the occasional bloodstain.
“Um, Headmistress,” Morgana panted. “Just how far underground are we?”
“We’re in the deepest bowels of the castle,” Theodora responded without turning around. “We decided to keep some of our prisoners down here where no students could get to them and vice versa. It’s better to be safe, rather than sorry, wouldn’t you agree?”
“How long have you been keeping dangerous prisoners down here?” Akira questioned.
“For decades,” Theodora responded in a matter-of-fact tone. “Even long before I became the headmistress.”
“Cool,” the black-eyed witch answered. “I dig it.”
“Of course, you do,” I snickered under my breath.
“Not that I’m complaining, Headmistress,” Beatrix said, “but how much farther do we have to go?”
“It’s not too far now,” Theodora answered. “I’m starting to realize that none of you possess the virtue of patience, and patience is a key component of premonition.”
“We may not be patient, but we’re bloodthirsty as fuck,” Akira quipped, and her black eyes glinted in the dim light of Theodora’s wand. “That has to count for something, doesn’t it?”
“I suppose it does,” the headmistress chuckled. “Now, keep up. The sooner we get down into the dungeons, the sooner you can practice.”
Even though we’d been walking for what felt like over half an hour, every nerve in my body was pulsating with excitement and curiosity. I pictured the vilest and most dangerous creatures lurking down in the dungeon, and instead of feeling fear, I felt pure adrenaline.
Who knew what we would have to face? I had no idea, but I was eager to find out.
I was ready for fucking anything.
Finally, we reached the last step, and the entire floor was pitch black, even with Theodora’s light to guide the way. As soon as we were all situated on the dirt floor, Theodora raised her free hand, and then the entire dungeon burst with light. Candles hung from scones on the walls, and there was also an ocean of floating candles hovering directly above us. When I glanced around the ice-cold room, all I could see were wide, wooden doors, and each one had a set of small metal bars covering a sliver of an opening at the top. We heard deep growls and a chorus of other voices echoing throughout the dank room, and I knew there had to be at least a dozen creatures down here.
“Now, what you see before you are the prisoners I mentioned,” Theodora explained. “We rarely use them for academic practice, especially for students of your age and magical level, but as you guessed, we make occasional exceptions.”
When I turned to look at the others, each witch had pale lips and wide, terrified eyes, and they all jumped back as something slammed its body against one of the doors. The wooden barrier creaked and groaned, and splinters shot out into the air like a rain of small arrows.
For a split second, I genuinely thought it was going to break down.
“Let me out of here, you goddamn bitch!” a deep, menacing voice growled. “You’ll be fucking sorry if you don’t.”
“How rude,” Vesta muttered under her breath.
“As you can clearly hear,” Theodora said as she rolled her eyes, “these beasts lack manners… so don’t pay any attention to their insults. Anyway, who would like to go first?”
Morgana meekly raised her hand into the air, and I could see she was trembling.
“Ah, Miss Morgana?” Theodora smiled. “How brave of you.”
“Actually, Headmistress,” the brunette responded awkwardly, “I was hoping you could tell us what we’re going to be doing first.”
“Well, I was going to get to that,” Theodora said as she clucked her tongue. “I wasn’t about to let you just guess. You’re still not advanced enough for that.”
“Err… I knew that.” The bookworm blushed deeply. “I was just making sure.”
“Well, the first thing you will be practicing is how to foresee a dangerous circumstance before it arrives,” the headmistress explained. “So, as you can obviously guess, behind each door lies a different human or creature. Your goal is to sense the danger they possess before I open the door--”
“But how do we do that?” Penelope interjected. “There could be at least a hundred different spells and possibilities.”
“I was just about to get to that, Miss Penelope,” Theodora said as she arched a sharp eyebrow.
The bright-haired witch clamped her mouth shut and then looked down at her feet, and an awkward silence filled the air as the headmistress stared long and hard at the outspoken witch.
“She meant no disrespect, Headmi
stress,” Beatrix mumbled after the silence became deafening. “She’s just nervous.”
“It’s quite alright.” Theodora nodded. “I understand you all have your reservations and fears, but those qualities will prevent you from achieving premonition greatness, so you must learn to set them aside, understood?”
“Yes, Headmistress,” we all replied in unison.
“Excellent.” Theodora smiled. “Now, as with all premonition skills, you must keep an open and free mind as you focus on your mysterious opponent. Then you must quickly decipher which spell would be the best one to use. For example, if I were faced with a centaur, what spell would best disarm the quick and cunning creature?”
“Glacio?” Morgana suggested. “Or perhaps, Conligo?”
“Excellent, Miss Morgana,” Theodora replied. “Centaurs are quick, so a freezing or paralyzing spell would be best. As you focus on your potential opponent, you must silently repeat the word ‘periculum,’ and you should be able to see your foe before they appear. If not… well, we’ll worry about that later.”
We all nodded in mutual understanding and then pulled out our wands.
“Oh, no, no,” Theodora tutted. “No wands, I want you to use your hands to predict your foe. You may use your wands once you figure out what you’re facing, but not before that.”
The witches around me exchanged panicked looks with each other before they slowly tucked their wands back into their skirts, and I slipped my own wand up my sleeve.
“Now, who’s ready to go first?” Theodora asked.
No one said a word, and several witches even took a small step back. I knew someone had to be first, though, so why not me?
“I’ll go,” I offered with my chin raised.
“Very good, Cole,” Theodora answered. “Come and stand by my side.”
I took a small, tentative step forward and joined the headmistress, and when I was standing shoulder to shoulder with her, she turned to face me.
“Are you ready?” she asked. “Is your mind open?”
Before I answered, I took in a deep breath and tried not to picture the endless possibilities that could be lurking behind these wooden doors.
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