by Jade Thorn
Melody looked at her in surprise, seeing the tears in the other woman’s eyes.
“I hope that you understand what you have come to mean to me, Melody. You are Adelaide’s child. My best friend’s offspring. I think of you like a daughter, even if I am not permitted to treat you like one,” she smiled sadly, and Melody felt her heart break a little.
A mother, a real mother, something that she’d wished for, so many times. Now here there was a woman right in front of her, and they'd probably never have a chance to explore that relationship.
“I would be honoured to be your daughter,” she told her. “If I cannot have my own mother back, then I would wish for someone just like you. You’re already everything I could have ever hoped for.”
Melody stood up from her seat and so did the provost, the two of them hugging as Mrs Hardinger sat behind her desk and blew her nose with a resounding trumpet-like noise that made them all giggle a little at the absurdity of it.
“Now,” the provost said, still holding onto her. “If we’re to protect you, we need to contact Coven Fulgur and arrange for this to happen prior to your aunt’s arrival. Sybil, I need you to talk to Asher about swearing fealty to the right witch.”
The provost looked at Mrs Hardinger and tapped her nose, looking at Melody, who was trying not to notice.
“Consider it done,” Mrs Hardinger said in a resounding voice.
Melody nearly laughed, it was just as well that the room was warded for her counselling sessions.
“As for contacting the coven, leave it with me, Melody, I know that you couldn’t do it given the restrictions placed upon you.”
“Thank you, Provost,” she said, gratefully.
The chime for students to go to their first class of the day sounded, and Melody automatically turned to go.
“Melody? Wait for me, I’ll walk with you to class. It will lend legitimacy to my needing to see you if we are seen walking and talking together. The provost will leave once class has commenced and Jonas deems it safe. You’ve got me first up anyway. Which one of your shifters are you going to work with today?”
“Dean,” she said quietly and blushing, as they left the office and walked along the corridor to the central courtyard.
Shifter care was held in one of the indoor sports buildings, to allow the beasts room to move. Sometimes the classes involved grooming, other times it was first aid, or exercise, and then sometimes they also looked at anatomical differences between the more common species of familiars.
“Ah, so there has been progress?” Mrs Hardinger enquired. “Since last night no less, well done!”
“I can be hugged now, gently, and he makes an excellent pillow,” Melody said tartly, and the counsellor threw back her head and laughed, drawing looks from students everywhere. “That is much, much better, Melody. Well done!” She said loudly, for the benefit of those straining their ears to hear what was going on. “I’m glad to hear that clearing the hexes made a difference,” she said more quietly.
Melody nodded and walked silently beside her for the next few moments. “I’m frightened,” she said, candidly.
“Don’t be, Melody. We’ll sort out this puzzle, and then the sky will be your limit, and I think in your case, not even the sky will hold you back. Especially not with two bloody great, big dragons at your beck and call!” she chortled as she held the door open for Melody.
Dean practically pounced on her the moment she stepped inside, gathering her in his arms and giving her such a gentle hug that she wanted to cry. “There’s a chance,” she whispered in his ear. “Very slim, I’m praying to the Goddess. Hopefully she’ll get so sick of me she’ll say yes!”
Dean kissed her ear. “More likely she’ll be impressed by the strong witch that you are, despite all that you’ve faced, and she’ll bless you with what you need.”
“Righto, break it up, you two had all night to get that out of your system, it’s time to pay attention to me!” called Mrs Hardinger, and several of the witches laughed.
Melody blushed and turned to the front of the class where the lesson was indeed beginning. Near the door stood Asher, intent, alert and worried. She held her hand out flat and tilted it from side to side, shrugging helplessly.
Later, she mouthed at him, and he nodded. Then his head tilted to the side and he looked at Dean. When she turned to him, his eyes were a little glazed, then he nodded and his gaze focussed on her. She realised that Nick must have opened the link again. So, Asher would know the little that she had been able to tell Dean. She was nervous about telling them the rest, but it had to be done.
16. Melody
“So there’s a chance, if the provost can convince her to come earlier, then things can be done and an oath of fealty taken,” Melody carefully explained to them all as they hurried to the next class, avoiding any terms that might trigger the geasen.
Nick had joined them, casting a ward around them, guaranteeing their privacy.
“I still don’t get why we’re doing this. I mean, if all I have to do is swear fealty to Melody, then what’s the issue?” protested Asher.
“I’ve sworn fealty to my coven, Asher. What do you think will happen during the next holidays? Or when I graduate?” she asked him.
“But, you just say no, right? If you don’t want them to do stuff, you just say no.”
Melody stopped in the middle of the corridor and threw her hands in the air. “I can’t be part of this discussion. Nick, take him back to the provost, please. Make him understand.”
It wasn’t until he gently prised her hands off him, kissing her knuckles, that she realised she was gripping the front of his shirt.
“Ugh, we should probably look at a histrionics hex too,” she sighed.
”Is there such a thing?” asked Nick.
“Do I normally grab your shirt?” she responded. “I’ve never heard of one, but that doesn’t mean that someone hasn’t found a way to do it.”
Nick chuckled. “Yeah, okay, we’ll look at the mood affecting hexes again,” he reassured her, putting a careful arm around her shoulders.
Melody didn’t know if Dean had told them about her sleeping in his arms, or whether they had simply smelled him on her, but all of them had become more demonstrative since this morning. It was kind of nice, but at the same time, it stressed her out. This was not conducive to her holding them all at arm’s length.
For the rest of the day, the men took turns guarding her, switching out between classes. Melody assumed they were arranging it via the magical link that Nick used for them, but it still was a feat of organisation. It meant she got time with all of them, and that nobody managed to be around long enough to start any arguments with anyone else. While they were sure they were reasonably safe in the cottage, out and about they had to be vigilant for almost any threat.
The worst part was that Justin still took part, which meant that Jaynie hung around them too. She commented on everything, from Melody’s hair, to her clothes, and even her accent. She even tried to instruct Melody on how to handle a shifter, all the while failing to notice how the shifters around her were reacting. Far from helping them avoid conflict, Jaynie’s presence seemed only to ratchet up the tension.
Eventually, Melody had to say something to Nick when Justin wasn’t there.
“If he’s helping, it’s without her, otherwise he can just hang around his new friends. We don’t need Jaynie’s kind of help.”
Melody knew that she’d played right into the witch’s hands. It was likely to be exactly what the catty woman had been aiming for, a division between Justin and herself, but Melody couldn’t help it. She had bigger shit to deal with. Tomorrow, her aunt would be here, and Melody would need to be ready.
To her surprise, though, Justin sat with them at lunchtime, ignoring Jaynie completely. Even when she came over to sit with them, he simply told her to fuck off, and then turned his back on her. Melody saw the venomous look that Jaynie gave him, and she knew it would brew trouble from the whole bunc
h of them.
With Justin back on board, fewer hexes were getting through, although the three of them were kept busy defending against the spells coming their way. It was an exhausting day, and there was still no news from the provost. Melody racked her brains for spells to use, for ways around the geasen, but it was no use. She’d been trying to find a way out for years and hadn’t found anything. The only thing she could do was run, and she said as much to the men that evening after dinner.
“There is danger here for me tomorrow, for the good of my coven I could run from here, but I’m not leaving without you all. I can take Dean and Asher with me, but we’d be outcasts then.”
Dean looked at her, snarling in his frustration. “There’d be a bounty placed on finding us, and if we were caught, our bonds would be broken. Asher and I would be given to your aunt as property of the coven, while you’d be stripped of your powers.”
Melody nodded. “It would still mean that my aunt wouldn’t get the matriarchal magic, that would be destroyed, but it would net her two alpha shifters, and I know she’d love that, if only to ...” The heat on her back prevented her from saying more. Already she was skirting too far over the line. Melody had no idea what had prevented the geasen from triggering. Possibly only the fact that she hadn’t said she would do it, only that it could be attempted.
“You’re not running, Mel, we’ll protect you, all of you. Dean and Asher won’t leave here without you, not without a fight, and I’m a fucking dragon, I’d like to see them take me on,” growled Nick.
There was a knock at the door, and they all tensed, but then Justin groaned. “I told her never to come here, I told her our deal was off. Now I’m going to tell her what I truly think for once and for all.”
“Jaynie’s here? And what deal are you talking about?”
Justin looked at her apologetically. “She said if I dated her and made it convincing, she’d tell her coven mistress about you. She’s from Pecus Coven. They might only work with ungulates and not shifters, but at least they’re beast tamers.”
Melody’s jaw dropped. “And you couldn’t tell me this, because ...?”
The knock sounded more impatient this time, but Melody was ready to go out there and snatch the woman bald.
“Because it had to be convincing. If I was supposed to be with Jaynie, and none of you were bothered about it, then nobody would believe it. Nick was the only one who knew.”
Melody rounded on the other dragon, who winced at being thrown under the bus.
This time, the door thudded with a fist pounding at it. “Let me fucking at her,” growled Melody, and instantly Asher and Dean were there, holding her back.
Justin strode to the door and threw it open. “Listen here, bitch …” His voice trailed off at the sight of her face. It was bruised and bleeding and overflowing with tears.
‘You have to run,” sobbed Jaynie. “I wrote a letter to tell Bestia that she was looking for a new coven. If they came and withdrew her, then she would be out of the way. One of them invited me out for dinner tonight to hear more about it, but it was a trap. They tied me up and whipped me with a fucking stick until I told them everything I knew. I managed to escape and came straight here.” Jaynie hiccuped and grabbed him. “Justin, you have to run, they’re insane. She used a scrying mirror to talk to the slut’s aunt. They’re going to be here at sunrise! They’re coming for all of you!”
“What have you fucking done?” roared Justin, and she flinched, sobbing again. “Get out of my sight. You’re fucking sick, you know that? I never want to see you again.”
Melody couldn’t believe the gall of him. No matter what reason he’d done it, what excuse he used to try to justify it for himself, Justin had used her just as much as she’d used him. He had no call to treat her like that.
Then her brain caught up to what had happened.
“You double crossed him?” Melody asked, shocked.
Jaynie opened her mouth to protest, but Justin slammed the door in her face. He took one look at Melody and his shoulders slumped.
“I’m sorry, I was trying to help, I thought if you had two offers, you could choose the best one, and maybe knowing that there were two offers, others might come forward as well. It never occured to me that Jaynie would stoop that low to get me.” He looked up at her, his expression hopeless. “I’ve made things a thousand times worse, and now I don’t know how to fix it.”
Melody didn’t know what to say. Things made more sense, and yet, the truth was kind of worse than she’d imagined. He really hadn’t been making out with Jaynie, just trying to make it look like he was. He was using her. Worst of all, he’d needed them all to be upset about it? She didn’t think the ends justified the means at all, but right then, it wasn’t a priority.
Nick stepped forward, grabbing the other dragon and pulling him into a tight hug. “It’s okay Justin, it was a great idea. Just the wrong person to do it with.”
“I’ll go to the provost and tell her what happened,” Nick said, taking charge. “Oz, Ryan, go to the kitchens and get as much food as they’ll let you take with them. Dean, pack a bag for her. Trent and Asher, you’re with Justin, you’re going to find as much rope as you can and bring it to him. We’re going to have to rig up a flying harness for Justin and I so that we can carry you all. Odds are, they will be throwing spells at us as we break through the wards. We’ll need to fly defensively, which means lots of twists and turns, you guys are going to need shit to hold on to.”
“What about me?” asked Melody, fearfully. She was near the kitchen, on the other side of the room to him. Nick looked at her, then walked over and drew her into a hug that was tighter than any other she had received since the bonding.
“I want you to pack bandages, dressings and whatever herbs we have on hand. I have a safe place for us to go to, but I’d say that there will be consequences for you if we run.” He looked at her worriedly. “I can only do so much for you while we’re in the air, you have to promise that this time you’ll draw on your familiars for strength.”
Melody shuddered, and he shook her a little, her teeth rattling against each other.
“Promise me, Mel,” he ordered.
“I promise,” she said, fearfully. Nick kissed her on the forehead.
“Good, now go help Dean before his lion goes feral on us, then you two can get packing.” He winked at her and left with the others hot on his heels.
17. Nick
Nick stopped by the provost’s office first in case she was still there, but the doors were locked and the lights were off. Provost Aer-Canticum was the hardest working provost he’d ever encountered, and it showed in the wellbeing and efficiency of Adolphus, the academy was flourishing under her care.
It wasn’t unusual to find her alone in her office at this time of the evening, she put far more into the academy than she got from it. The job of Provost of an academy of this standing was a position fraught with political intrigue and pressure.
There was a time when Nick had hoped she would turn out to be his witch. He even got along well with Jonas who had expressed a similar sentiment, but now that he’d met Melody, he knew exactly what had been missing from his relationship with Augusta.
The door to Provost House was opened by Jonas before he’d even reached the stoop.
"Nick!" the lynx shifter greeted him. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"There's been a development. We need to up the time scale to before dawn."
"Well, you may just be in luck. Mistress Fulgur arrived an hour ago."
Nick felt his shoulders slump in relief. This was the first break they’d gotten since Dean had challenged her. "Thank fuck for that! Is it possible to see them?"
Jonas flinched, as though surprised to discover they were still in the doorway, then he stepped aside and ushered Nick in.
"They're in the dining room," Jonas told him, and Nick turned in that direction.
Nick knocked on the door before the older shifter could. Although Nick was
centuries older than Jonas, he looked young enough to be Jonas's son. The magic binding the shifters to the academy also stopped their aging, allowing them to remain as long as it took for them to find a witch strong enough to help them control their shifts. Once bonded, the familiars took on attributes consistent with their witches age. The provost was no longer a young woman.
“Come,” called a voice from within.
The two women looked at him with wide eyes.
"Nicholas, what a pleasant surprise! Mistress Fulgur, this is one of our dragon shifters. Nicholas, Mistress Fulgur has arrived to take Melody's oath tomorrow."
Nick could feel himself flushing as the other witch looked him over, but it wasn't in self consciousness at her obvious ogling. It was the calculating gleam in her eyes. He felt like a prize bull measured and weighed. Melody had been right in her fears, this wasn’t a coven that respected shifters either, but at least they wouldn’t kill them.
“Nicholas, I hear that you are fond of Melody. I do hope that you will consider challenging her in the near future. We would love to have you in our home.”
Yeah, you and every other coven, thought Nick, snidely.
“Thank you Ma’am. I cannot answer for Melody, but I think there is a chance that I will challenge her soon.” Nick turned his attention to the provost. “We’ve had word that Melody’s aunt will be arriving at dawn. She’s heard that Melody is considering leaving her coven, and apparently is coming to bring Melody and her familiars home. She will also seek to persuade the rest of us.” He wasn’t sure how much to say in front of Mistress Fulgur.
“Well, that is awkward, but it changes nothing,” the woman in question said. “Melody has the right to choose her coven, and I will not be rushed into accepting a witch who I haven’t even met. I have offered her a position, yes, but I hold the right to withdraw the offer at any given moment. Now, it was a pleasure to meet you, and I do wish you would consider joining Melody if she comes to us, but I have several important matters to discuss with Augusta.”