Academy Obscura - The Scorched Summer: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance

by Cassia Briar

  Damian, my youngest brother, leaned his elbows on his knees. “Is there going to be a big battle? When do we fight them? I still can’t believe that Dad was part of—”

  Casparo cut him off with a sharp glance. To me he said, “You should visit Dad. He doesn’t have much time left.”

  My chest clenched. I’d been here for two hours, taking care of pack concerns, and putting off seeing my father. What could I possibly say to him? My emotions swung like a pendulum between rage and compassion. He, and the rest of the former Council, had betrayed us all. He’d kept dark secrets from his own family, from his pack. He was a stranger to me now, and I suffered from both loss and disappointment.

  “I’ll go see him now,” I said to my brothers, rising to my feet. If I didn’t see him one last time, I might later regret it. Better to endure this now for one last hope of…anything. I was at a loss as to what to expect. Hope was beyond me. Still, I made my way through the tunnels to where my father lived out his last days.

  Two guards stood beside the ancient, wooden door. With eyes lowered in respect, they let me pass. The rusty hinges squeaked as I stepped into the small room. A faint blue light drove away the darkness. My father lay propped up on the single bed. His heavy eyelids opened and found me standing a couple feet away staring in disbelief.

  Diego Cortez had once been a robust man, heavily muscled, alpha of all alphas. I barely recognized the shriveled man in that bed. He reeked of weakness and coming death. The breath caught in my thick throat, and I couldn’t utter a word.

  “Angel.” His voice was brittle. “Come.”

  Automatically, I stepped closer. His fingers twitched toward mine and I took his hand. Compassion was winning out at the moment. I sank onto the stool near him, and let out the breath I’d been holding.

  “Father—”

  “No.” He moved his head from side to side. “Listen to me.” When I kept my mouth shut, he said, “I wanted the best for my family. The Council promised me and my family immortality. I agreed for myself. But I also agreed for you, your mother, and your brothers.”

  I gritted my teeth. “You were working with the Tromara—our enemies.”

  “They are not all bad. They’ve done what they needed to for their survival. They are trapped in their own creation as cannibals. They must feed to survive and that had always necessitated the culling. We were simply working for a jointly beneficial way to free them and us.”

  “I can’t believe your intentions were ever that benign, Father. Isabella…has done terrible things. And you’re one of her best friends.”

  He softly sighed. “You’ll soon learn that strong leadership requires personal sacrifice. Sacrifice of yourself, your loved ones, your ethics and morals. To truly lead, you’ll have to make hard choices, sometimes do terrible things to live. Isabella is a great example of a brilliant and dedicated leader of her people.”

  “No she isn’t.” I released his hand in disgust. “She’s a monster. So are the Tromara.”

  “Thinking in black and white is a weakness, Angel. In every enemy there is also opportunity. In every ally, you’ll find you can only trust them so far. Everyone has a price, a breaking point. Remember that,” he said in a low croak.

  “Do you feel no remorse for what you’ve done?” Heat crept up my neck. I clenched my jaw against the rising anger.

  Father leveled his gaze on mine. “I only wish I could live long enough to stay on the Council until our plans were complete. Until we ruled both the human and supernatural worlds. You may think you’ve defeated us, but Isabella will rise again, stronger than ever. You will fail, my son. That is my promise to you. You will fail.”

  5

  Caprice

  For the past three nights, Destiny had been kicking the crap out of me. Voluntarily—on both our parts. Josh and Heller had both insisted I learn to defend myself, along with a few dirty fighting tricks and tips. Being queen had proved a challenge—no one wanted to spar with me. Destiny didn’t have such reservations. And I knew she wouldn’t hold back either.

  We went at each other in human form, though her werewolf genetics were far superior to mine. For a skinny bitch she sure was heavy, and her punches landed with bruising force. Destiny growled as she advanced on me with her fists swinging. As much as she hated me, a delighted gleam shone in her eyes, her face smug. I wanted to jab that satisfied look from her features. Instead, her leg swung out fast and low, swiping my feet out from under me. I landed on my back—hard. Again.

  I stayed down for a bit to catch my breath and gazed up at the stars. Which immediately brought my mind back to Montrell. After the brief skirmish with the Tromara outside the gates, he’d vanished. No one had seen him.

  Angel had called when he’d arrived with his pack. Montrell wasn’t with him either. Worry wrenched my heart. Had the Tromara captured him? I didn’t think so, because after we’d retreated behind the wall and our protective wards, the Tromara had continued to bombard us with spells. If they’d taken a captive, they would have left victorious. Right?

  No demands had arrived from the Tromara. Nothing pointed to Montrell having been taken. Where the hell was he?

  Destiny sneered down at me. “Are you getting up anytime soon? I don’t have all night.”

  “Actually, you do.” I groaned as I sat up.

  She didn’t respond, but her lips tightened at the corners. We both knew she was at my beck and call. In some totally screwy way, choosing her as my sparring partner was honoring her in the eyes of others. I knew she loved the elevated position and, at the same time, resented me for being the cause of it. The truth was we were using each other to benefit.

  Josh strode over, offered a hand, and hauled me up. “You need to watch out for that leg sweep.”

  “Tell me about it.” I was so tired of landing on my ass. Every inch of my body ached. Bruises, in a myriad of color, dappled my skin.

  “Now,” Josh said, “I showed you how to avoid that sweep. Try again.”

  As he backed off, Destiny closed in. She pounded me with her fists as I blocked, feeling more bruises bloom on my forearms and sides. Suddenly, she switched tactics, grabbed my shoulders and swept her leg around to connect with the back of my knees. The momentum of her swipe and my body weight did the rest. I stared up at the night sky again with a ragged moan.

  Josh sighed. “All right, that’s enough for now. Good job, Destiny, you may go.” His face appeared in my field of vision. “We’ll keep working on making you a warrior queen.”

  “I can fight just fine when I’m shifted.”

  He shook his head. “No you can’t. You have more tools to work with in your half-form, but your body is the same. You’re just as vulnerable physically then as you are right now.”

  I knew he was right, so I clenched my mouth shut. Being a war-time queen was more difficult than I’d ever imagined. The new Council was doing a good job establishing itself. Our primary focus was on how to gather support, fighters, and supplies. We all knew we couldn’t stay locked away in this academy forever. We’d have to face our enemy, when we were ready.

  But, when the Council digressed to bickering with each other, it was my responsibility to intervene. It also seemed I was expected to have innate genius battle strategy, a wealth of contacts in each territory, and be a badass warrior who would lead us all to victory. No pressure. And I was trying. I spent the first part of my waking hours here on the lawn with Destiny and Josh. The middle part, I was with the Council. Then I pored over the endless stack of books on Jaxon’s coffee table before bed. Wake up. Repeat.

  Reading was how I learned best, and I spent hours soaking up information: How to rule, leadership, teamwork, delegation, ancient battles, the past revolutions, history, politics, the five supernatural types and their cultures, these and more I’d unearthed from Academy Obscura’s library. A lot of it from the Obscura Room. Some of it from the dean’s private collection.

  “Are you going to lay there all night?” Josh’s voice brought me ba
ck to the present. “Your head isn’t in this, Caprice. Where are you?”

  He couldn’t have been more correct. Between ruling, studying, training, and worrying about Montrell and Angel, I was not focusing well on anything.

  I grimaced as I got to my feet. “Where the fuck is Montrell?”

  “I think he used the distraction to leave, just like Angel.” He made a sympathetic face. “That’s the only rational explanation.”

  “Why hasn’t he called or texted?”

  “Maybe he’s still in his owl form. I’m sure there’s a good reason he left without telling anyone.”

  My gut twisted. Had he left us to go to his father? Was he taking Demarcus’ side after all? I couldn’t believe that, but why else would he leave and not tell anyone where he was going?

  The summer nights were warming up enough to have lunch on the lawn. I sat on the grass between Elena and Lana. We were surrounded by Tyler and Flora, Brody, Gavin, Olivia, Payton, Nuri, and Xavier. This was the first time the entire Omega Alliance and I had gotten together since the culling. I felt a sense of relief being in the company of my friends.

  As usual, Gavin was talking politics to an enraptured audience. Brody’s hand lingered on Lana’s. Xavier stuck his tongue out at Olivia and she threw a chip at him. Yeah, it felt like old times.

  “Do you want me to heal these?” Elena asked, pointing at the purple and blue marks up and down my exposed arms.

  “You can do that?” I lifted my brows. “You got your wand like a week ago.”

  Elena’s face lit up. “I know! May says I’m a natural. She’s taught me so much.”

  “Okay, I guess you can give it a try.” I’d been planning to ask Jaxon or Liam, or stop by the infirmary, but I hadn’t gotten around to it yet. Eating lunch with my friends was more important.

  Lana leaned in at my other side. “Don’t blow up our dragon queen,” she said to Elena with a wink.

  Elena rolled her eyes. They were getting along great.

  “Now hold still—” she was cut off as all of our phones came to life.

  I pulled mine from my jeans pocket. The screen was playing a video at full volume. Deja vu prickled my skin. We’d pulled this trick at the culling. I recognized Isabella’s voice and my stomach sank.

  “It may seem as though we betrayed you.” Isabella stood between Mia Chang and Demarcus Freeman. “I need you to know that what you saw in that video created by the usurper royals was taken out of context and twisted for their own purposes. We did not betray you. We always have and always will do what is best for the supernatural community. For you. For your families.

  “I know this will come as a shock to you, but recently we’ve found working with the Tromara to be in all our best interests. We have held secret negotiations with the king. We knew working with the Tromara in any way would appear as though we’d betrayed you. The truth is, we’ve worked hard to end the culling. To end the tyranny of the Tromara. We’ve convinced them to join with us in overcoming the humans. With their skills and abilities joined with ours, we can finally take our proper place over the humans.

  “As you all know, the Tromara are immortal. They have shared their secret of immortality with us. We offer the ability to live forever to all of those who join us now. Come out of hiding, there is no need to fear us. The Council will not hurt you. The Tromara will never hurt you again. Join us in defeating the usurpers. Then join us in putting the humans in their place once and for all. Together we can live free, in the open, as it should be.” Isabella stared intently into the camera. “Join us and become immortal.”

  The screen went black.

  My face heated with fury. That bitch! Isabella no longer got the title of grandma, she was my opponent, and I was going to take her down.

  Everyone sat in stunned silence. Gavin was the first to recover. He climbed to his feet and faced me. “We need to go. Now. Call a Council meeting.”

  “I’m already on it,” I said, sending out a group text. “See you guys later.” I rose and jogged to catch up with Gavin.

  He spoke as soon as I reached his side. “They must be desperate to offer immortality to everyone.” His jaw clenched. “Unfortunately, it’s also genius. Supers will be flocking to them now.”

  “I know. I think we should put out another video to counter theirs.” I was speed walking to keep up with Gavin’s enormous stride.

  He nodded. “Those videos are the battlefield, at least for the moment. It’s time to up our political game.”

  We were halfway to the Dean’s Hall when Kyle Aimes caught up with us. I did my best not to turn away in disgust as he kept pace beside me. His pale green eyes searched my face and my jaw muscles worked in annoyance.

  Kyle’s gaze switched to Gavin. “Some of the people in here are going to want to leave. They’ll be after that immortality. What are we going to do about them? We can’t have them undermining us from the inside.”

  “No we can’t.” I worried my lip. “We also don’t have prison cells. And I’m not going to kill people for being gullible.”

  Gavin said, “We could use the makeshift prison the Tromara set up last term in the Dean’s Hall basement.”

  I shuddered, remembering the short time I’d spend down there with the rest of the Omega Alliance. We’d attacked the Tromara, and they’d punished us for it.

  “Let’s see what the rest of the Council thinks,” I said, pulling open one heavy door.

  Kyle took it and stood aside. “After you.”

  I shot him an annoyed glance before walking through. Kyle was anything but a gentleman. His whole being nice to me act was starting to chafe. Did I hold a grudge? Hell yeah, I did. But, like I told the Council so often, this was not the time to fight among ourselves.

  When we arrived at the boardroom, the others were already there. Foregoing any formal greetings, I launched right in, “We thought something like this might happen. I think we need to record a video to counter theirs. Any other ideas?”

  “You should speak in the video,” said Itzel. “You are Isabella’s granddaughter, you know her well. You are also the new queen. Make them listen to you.”

  “Right.”

  “What about the people on campus who want to leave?” Kyle asked from the far end of the table.

  Jaxon’s eyes held thinly veiled hatred as he acknowledged Kyle. “We’ll need to magically determine who is loyal to us and who is not.”

  “And what do we do with those who aren’t?” Kyle held Jaxon’s gaze.

  I spoke up. “We will let them leave.”

  Olin sputtered. “You cannot let them go. They are our enemies!”

  “I agree with Caprice,” Regina said. “The people need to know that we are fair and just. We can’t kill or lock up citizens for wanting to leave the Academy. Some might side with Isabella. Others will simply want to rejoin their families and wait out this war. Those who do decide to stay on campus will need to prove their loyalty.”

  Heller leaned forward. “Those of us who fought in the last rebellion are happy to fight again. Even so, we will undergo whatever magical test you determine is necessary.”

  “Thank you.” I turned toward Liam. “You and Jaxon are in charge of creating a simple spell to weed out anyone who has ulterior motives.”

  “I can help, too,” said Kyle.

  “Me as well.” Itzel settled her stern gaze on me.

  “Okay. The four of you then. In the meantime, I’m going to record that video. Gavin, can you grab Brody and meet me in the Omega Alliance room?”

  “On it.” He headed for the door.

  “The rest of you, let everyone know they have twenty-four hours to pack and leave, if they want. The Tromara are still out there. So anyone going out the gates will do it at their own risk. We’ll see if the Tromara will uphold Isabella’s promise and not hurt anyone.” I stood. “Once that window closes, gather everyone so they can go through the magical test.”

  They nodded. I turned and left, leaving the other councilor
s to do their jobs.

  In the basement of Sorrentino Hall, Brody and Gavin were setting up the recording equipment. This station was going to have to remain permanently set up if this was how we were going to wage war with Isabella.

  I took a few minutes to write down what I wanted to say before stepping in front of the camera. This was too important to wing it. Besides, I was still furious. The first few things that popped to mind would only sound petty, maybe bratty, and certainly vindictive. That was not the type of impression I wanted to give.

  With a deep breath to settle my nerves, I faced the camera. “I am Caprice Sorrentino, Isabella’s granddaughter, and the new Council Queen. I’m recording this at Academy Obscura, where a little over two weeks ago we fought the old Council and the Tromara to end the culling. When we told you the old Council had betrayed you, that was, and still is, the truth. Isabella believes bringing you into the fold will gain her supporters. She’s offered you immortality. Well, let me tell you a little bit about what that immortality looks like.

  “The Tromara were not born immortal. King Sebastian created a complex spell to take the powers and life force of other supernaturals. In order to become immortal, you’ll have to feed off your fellow supernaturals. To sustain your immortality, you’ll have to continue to sacrifice and eat your own kind. Are you really willing to do that?

  “Even if you are, at the moment the Tromara are incapable of giving you, or the old Council, immortality. They need a special book, the key to the spell, and they don’t have it. It’s been destroyed. So you see, all Isabella is offering you are false promises.”

  I drew in a steadying breath and continued my speech, telling them about the new Council we’ve established. About how I will rule with more representation from all five communities. And after the war, real elections would be held in each territory.

  “The old Council is corrupt. The Tromara are, and always will be, monsters. Your new Council is set on clearing out the horror that has ruled over you for so long. We will fight to free you all. I hope you’ll join us when the time is right. For now, be safe.”