He thought about trying to make an emotional appeal to Zoe, who was still among the mages in the chamber. He’d lost track of which of the robed figures she was, which meant that he couldn’t wait and try to speak with her discreetly while she was apart from the others. He also sincerely doubted that she’d listen to him and be willing to turn against her new faction.
That singular fact was responsible for the lion’s share of Lee’s creeping unease. Zoe had joined up with a group of rogue mages. She’d betrayed him and Harper, and from what she’d told him earlier, she seemed to think that she was doing it for their sake.
Harper. Lee began slipping away from the entrance to the event hall as quietly as he could when he remembered the obvious fact that he’d been ignoring. He and Tess might not stand a chance on their own, but with Harper, they might be able to pull off a miracle. It would certainly take one, as far as he was concerned, to defeat the Dealmaker without putting the lives of the students at risk.
He made his way outside and began hurrying across campus. There were more rogue mages, but not as many as he’d been expecting. He guessed their number at between ten and twenty, far too few to normally overwhelm a school with so many arcane students of various degrees of competency. They’d picked the night of the Equinox Ball for a reason, a time when nearly all of the students were gathered together in a single, easily controlled location.
His anxiety over being caught by the rogue mages before he located Harper proved to be unfounded. She was fighting a group of them in front of the central statue of Shay Morrigan. He only barely managed to resist the urge to sprint to her aid, forcing himself to think through the situation instead of blindly reacting on the whims of his emotions.
Harper was facing off against four mages at once and she was already injured, clutching one hand over a bloody stain underneath her sweater. The wariness with which her remaining opponents still favored her gave Lee a new appreciation for his master’s abilities.
“I hear they call you the Queen within the Order,” said a male mage, his voice dripping with derision. “I wonder what I’d have to do to get a fun nickname like that.”
“Facing me in an even duel would be an admirable place to start.” Harper straightened, pulling her hand back from her wound and assuming the elemental casting stance. “I’m already wounded. The odds would be in your favor.”
The arrogant male mage let out a sardonic laugh. “I’m sure you’d like that. Sadly, the Dealmaker gave us strict orders to stick together and fight as a unit. We won’t kill you if you don’t make us.”
“Lee!” hissed Tess. “What are you going to do?”
Lee stared at Harper. She seemed to be making a show of scanning over her opponents, but her eyes lingered on his as they passed across where he stood in the dark. Could she really see him? He wasn’t sure, at least not until Harper turned her gaze to the north, staring at the First Tower.
No. She was staring at what was behind it, the hidden jail where they still had a card left to play. A single fact became abundantly clear to Lee in that instant. The House of Shadows had been responsible for the jailbreak in New York, and there was no reason to think they hadn’t come to Primhaven for the same purpose.
Two of the mages surrounding Harper attacked at once, one of them unleashing a blast of concentrated lightning while the other launched a crimson-red magic missile. She got her spell shield up in time, but it faltered as the second spell struck, dissolving into ambient arcane essence. She steeled her expression and countered with several fireballs of her own, but the rogue mages closed in on her, one of them getting off a conjuration binding that snapped her wrists out to the side.
He sprinted past them while they were distracted, sticking to the shadows along Primhaven’s outer wall and praying that he wasn’t too late. The House of Shadows seemed to have firm control of the school now, and at least a few of the students and staff who hadn’t been at the ball had been captured and were being led toward the event hall.
The hatch leading down to the hidden jail was still closed, which Lee took to be a good sign. He pulled it open and started down the stairs, nearly colliding with a black-robed woman who’d been on her way up them.
The near collision became an actual one as Lee recovered from the surprise first and pushed her hard in the chest. She let out a surprised gasp followed by a squeal of pain as she landed heavily on the tile floor.
The woman was quick to get her arms up, and she got a spell off before Lee could do much else. An icicle as long as his arm and as sharp as his kris dagger hissed as it cut through the air between them. Lee threw himself to the floor as it smashed against the stairs, showering him with bits of icy shrapnel.
“Surrender!” shouted the woman. “I won’t hurt you if you—”
Lee already had one hand clasping the wrist of his other arm, and he unleashed his force spell before she could finish her sentence. It slammed her back, knocking her against the narrow hallway’s far wall. He threw himself on top of her before she could recover, seizing hold of her head by the hair and cracking it roughly against the tile.
He’d been expecting her to immediately fall unconscious. Instead, she started crying.
“Please…” she sobbed. “I… I was just… following orders.”
“Dammit,” muttered Lee.
He couldn’t just leave her there. Even the act of locking her in an empty cell would put him momentarily at risk, given how quickly she might regain her courage and decide to start casting again. He was considering pushing through his unease and smacking her head against the tile some more when Tess slipped by him.
“I know!” she said. “Here, allow me.”
Tess stretched out on the floor next to the sobbing mage and almost seemed to be embracing her from the side for a moment. The mage shuddered, and then Tess was sliding closer, not just next to the woman, but into her. The mage’s mouth lulled open for a second or two, along with her eyes rolling up into the back of her head. Then, she winked at him.
“Guess who?” asked the mage.
“Seriously?” Lee frowned. “I’m not sure how I feel about this.”
“Neither am I.” Tess dusted herself off as Lee climbed off her and helped her up. “Just look at this body. Her butt, especially.”
She spun around for him. The woman had been in her thirties, with brown hair and a rather pleasing, borderline-voluptuous build.
“Trust me, I already got a good look,” he said.
“Hey!” said Tess. “That’s not—”
A sudden, surprised gasp cut off her sentence. She pulled her newly obtained hands over her mouth and shook her head. Lee followed her gaze and felt his own emotions hurtle down a similar track.
Gabby was lying in her cell, pale and unmoving, eyes open and unseeing. A purple bruise marred the intricate lines of her neck tattoo, and her fingers were curled, as though she’d been clawing or desperately grasping up until the very second of her death.
“Why?” muttered Lee. “Why would they go through all the effort of attacking Primhaven just to kill one of their own?”
Was she really one of the House of Shadows? She’d never admitted to it openly. If she was unrelated to their faction, then what about her made her a target worth going through so much trouble to kill?
“She didn’t seem like a bad person,” whispered Tess.
“I don’t think she was.”
“Do you…” Tess winced and reflexively brought her hands to her neck. “Do you think it was quick, at least?”
“I’m sure it was.” He pulled her into a hug, feeling a bit strange at how unusual her smell was, along with the different sensation of a new body against him. “We’ll make them pay for this.”
CHAPTER 33
Lee and Tess hesitated before coming around the First Tower and into the open. The House of Shadows had sentries stationed across Primhaven. The small window in which Lee had been able to move freely across campus had officially closed.
“I ha
ve an idea,” whispered Tess. “I’ll act like you’re my prisoner.”
She put her plan into action before Lee could voice his opinion, casting a set of conjuration bindings in the shape of handcuffs onto his wrists.
“You can use the magic of people once you’ve possessed them?” asked Lee.
“Yeah.” Tess set her hands on her hips when she noticed his expression. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s not like I possess people often, at least not anymore.”
“At least not anymore?”
“We all have a few better-forgotten bushels in our past, Lee. Now where should we head next? We still have to figure out a way to deal with this situation.”
He didn’t have a good answer for her. Harper and Odarin had already been defeated and captured. He hadn’t seen Instructor Mattis around anywhere, but he wasn’t sure where she’d be during the crisis. Instructor Daniels was also capable in a fight, but Lee was pretty sure he’d seen his unconscious form amidst the students in the event hall.
“We’ll head to Instructor Escher’s alchemy lab,” said Lee. “Hopefully we can find her there. It’s also in the Seruna Center, so you won’t raise as much suspicion leading a prisoner in that direction.”
Tess gave him a serious nod and then a less-than-serious smile. “I should get into my role. Start walking, prisoner whose name I don’t know! Left foot, right foot, left foot…”
“I know how to walk, Tess.”
“My name isn’t Tess, it’s Miss Shadow.”
Lee rolled his eyes. The ploy seemed to be working, and Tess was smart enough to give the other rogue mages a wide berth as she led him forward, one arm on his waist and one on his shoulder.
Harper was no longer by the central statue, and the mages she’d been fighting were nowhere to be seen. Lee felt a stab of guilt, even though he knew that throwing himself into the battle would have only played into the enemy’s hand. The House of Shadows had taken control of the school, but they hadn’t won just yet, not if he had something to say about it.
The Seruna Center’s hallways were silent and empty, which was a strange contrast against the broken windows and fractured floor from the spillover of Odarin’s geomancy. Tess walked quickly, pushing Lee forward. They turned a corner and spotted one of the rogue mages walking toward them from the other end.
“Another straggler,” said the mage. “He didn’t give you too much trouble, did he?”
“Uh, no, of course not, ha ha,” said Tess. She wasn’t a very good actor and Lee felt her hands fidgeting against his shoulder and waist nervously.
“Good,” said the mage. “I’ll be glad when we’re done here. I was worried about you, Beth. Come find me outside once you’ve dropped him off.”
“Yeah, sure,” said Tess, through a very forced-looking smile.
The mage leaned forward, apparently intent on planting a quick kiss on Tess’s lips. Lee almost threw his shoulder into the man, but Tess let out a small sneeze before he needed to. The mage pulled back.
“I think I’m coming down with a cold,” she said quickly, with a few exaggerated sniffles.
“I’ll warm you up later, then,” said the mage. “You should hurry and drop the prisoner off with the others. The Dealmaker doesn’t want us staying here for any longer than we have to.”
Tess nodded and let out a nervous breath as the mage continued down the hallway. Lee watched him go, frowning at how close they’d just come to being discovered.
“Are you jealous, Lee?” whispered Tess.
“Kind of, yeah,” he said. “But it wouldn’t really have been your lips he’d have been kissing, technically.”
“I’m inhabiting this body right now, so yes, it would have been.”
“Interesting,” he said. “So it’s okay if I kiss her, or uh, you, right now, too? I’m a little intrigued by this.”
“You pervert,” whispered Tess. “It would be fine if I wasn’t in her body, but there’s an issue of consent you’re missing here. She can’t say yes or no while she’s possessed.”
“Is being kissed really her biggest worry right now, given the situation?”
“I’m just saying,” she said. “I don’t want you getting any weird ideas.”
“Says the ghost that likes to watch other people having sex and absorb essence from them.”
“Not random other people, just when it’s with you.”
The light was on when they reached the alchemy lab. Lee crouched low and stealthily peeked in through the door’s window, spotting Instructor Escher at her desk, reading a book. Tess took the conjuration bindings off him and stepped back.
“I’ll wait around the corner,” she said. “Otherwise, you’ll be stuck having to explain how you convinced one of the enemy mages to switch sides.”
“Good thinking.” Lee almost gave her a kiss on reflex and felt a pang of sympathy for the mage they’d ran into earlier. It was a hard habit to break. Tess split off, and Lee slipped into the chamber through the door.
“Initiate Amaranth?” said Escher. “Is there something you need?”
“Uh, hi, Instructor,” said Lee. “I take it from your posture that you aren’t up to speed on what’s currently going on.”
She stared at him in bafflement. Lee explained as much as he knew about the attack, leaving out any mention of Zoe and their encounter in the bathroom.
“Oh God,” she muttered. “This is quite serious. Let’s get down into my private lab, where we won’t stand out so much. We can hide there until the situation sorts itself out.”
“I have no intention of hiding,” said Lee. “I came here to get your help.”
“Me? I am not a fighter, Initiate Amaranth. I am flattered by the faith you’ve placed in me, but rest assured, I would present as much challenge to a group of trained attackers as a few strips of moist tissue paper.”
“No, I had something else in mind,” said Lee. “How would you feel about summoning me a couple of monster girls?”
Escher looked as though her first reflex was to object to the idea, but she bit it back and gave it serious consideration. After a few seconds, she slowly nodded.
“Actually,” she said, “I quite like this idea. It won’t be easy. Using summoning magic is different from normal conjuration. It’s incredibly essence-intensive. I could perhaps supply you with… four, but no more than that.”
“That’s more than I was expecting,” said Lee. “Do I get to pick the types?”
“No, but I’ll make sure they’re formidable.”
Escher led him down into her private lab and wasted no time setting up the spell. It was a more intensive process than Lee had initially realized. Gabby summoning her lamias had made it look fairly simple, but Escher went through the act of changing into her Instructor’s robe and centering herself with a few deep breaths before adopting the conjuration casting stance.
“We’ll start with the one you’ve already met,” said Escher. “Her name is Brie, by the way.”
“Monster girls have names?”
Escher blinked several times and looked at him like he was an idiot. “They are not unintelligent beings, they just communicate differently than humans.”
She began casting the spell. A purple portal of energy slowly expanded outward to fill the space in front of her palm. Escher furrowed her brow in concentration, and a moment passed before the cute, blue slime girl Lee had kept engaged during her earlier research plopped out through the portal.
“Hello, Brie,” said Lee.
“Hi!” said Brie. “Hi, hi, hi.”
“Move her out of the way of the portal,” said Escher. “It’s easiest if I summon them one after another.”
Over the span of the next few minutes, Escher summoned three more monster girls. Two of them were new to Lee. Widow was a spider girl, a seven-foot-tall amalgamation of a feminine humanoid body with purple skin and eight thin, black spider legs. She had six eyes, each crimson-red in color and both larger and cuter than a human’s.
Naka
, whose name Escher explained was the Nepalese word for a female yak, was, well, a yak. She was an inch or two taller than Lee and probably seventy pounds heavier, all of it muscle. Despite that, none of her was unbalanced, from her powerful, strangely jointed legs, to her massive arms. Her entire body was covered in thin, light-brown hairs, and the two curling ivory horns that protruded from her head looked razor sharp.
The last monster girl, to Lee’s delight, was Thumper, whom he’d already met. The snow bunny leapt onto him as soon as she came through the portal, showering him with kisses and reminding him where her name came from with the pounding, humping motions of her hips. She was smaller than the others and rather waifish in appearance, with her thin white fur and long, pliable ears. Of course, Lee knew firsthand that her hybrid ice-elemental nature gave her intense powers over the weather in a winter climate.
“Perfect,” said Lee. “Now we have to be smart about this. We need to consider our strengths carefully and come up with a solid plan.”
“You have about eight or maybe only seven minutes before the summoning spell runs out,” said Escher.
“Okay. In that case, the plan is to charge in recklessly and hope we catch them by surprise.”
The monster girls let out enthusiastic cheers, and Lee took off at the head of his new supernatural army.
CHAPTER 34
The battle began almost as soon as Lee and the monster girls exited the Seruna Center. The monster girls posed an intimidating sight in the dark of night, one that even the House of Shadows was not immune to.
It was the mage who’d recognized Tess in her possessed body earlier whom they first encountered. He was waiting outside, guarding the door Lee’s group left through. He brought his hands up into a casting stance and then stumbled backward upon seeing Widow, or possibly Naka.
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