I mean, the ring wasn’t actually mine to give, but I knew Harris would want me to get my magic back. The fact was, Harris liked our little competition over who was the best wizard, and it was no fun if he had magic and I didn’t. He told me to wear the ring to protect myself. He wasn’t going to ask for it back, anyway. If I had magic, I could protect myself with my own power, which was obviously better.
Plus, Firian would have magic too. Double score. (And I’d get that kitsune sex fantasy. Not that this factored into my negotiations at all or anything…hmm.)
She held out her hand. I pulled the ring off my finger and gave it to her. I trusted she would hold up her end, because bargains were so important in the magical world, and I was right. She took my hand and I felt warmth flood through me. I could feel my powers coming back to me and it brought me a huge sense of comfort and relief, like a missing limb had grown back. I think I had been trying to deny how much my magic meant to me.
Then I saw the queen running her fingers over the ring, the suggestion of a smile beneath the veil. “Goodbye,” she said.
I was suddenly shoved out of Wyrd and back into the meadow overlooked by the tree. As soon as I appeared, I heard shouts and a guard shot me with a paralyzing spell, knocking me to the ground.
Chapter Eight
Charlotte
“You came back to the tree.” Piers Nicolescu paced past us. “Harris, how stupid are you?”
“Apparently, very stupid,” Harris said dryly. “Go ahead. Enjoy the moment. Strut. Puff. You want to try out a villain laugh while you’re at it?”
“I’m sad for you,” Piers said, looking faintly wounded. “That’s all. Now I have to call the authorities on my own cousin.”
While I was in Wyrd, my guys got into a brawl with the guards and Montague bit one of them, so…it seemed unlikely we could talk our way out of this now.
“You know, Catherine and your parents and I had all agreed to let you youths go.”
“‘Youths’?” Montague said. “When was the last time you fought a high demon?”
“He’s just mad because his familiar is a sugar glider,” Harris said.
“Awww, really?” I said, although I probably shouldn’t.
Piers looked completely pissed off that I thought his familiar was adorable. He struck Harris’ face. “Are we insulting familiars now? Two of you couldn’t even keep yours alive.”
Montague lunged forward to tackle Piers and some guards rushed forward to break them up. They locked Montague’s hands up in some tight cuffs that glowed.
Piers had been knocked to the ground. Someone tried to help him up and he brushed it off with a muttered curse, straightening out his cloak. “You are all going to the Haven,” he said. “It’s where you belong.”
“The Haven?” Harris said.
“Yes. If you can get your head on straight, maybe your life isn’t completely ruined.”
“Don’t do this,” Harris said. “Charlotte is with her family. Look, let’s just give the ring back. Charlotte lost her magic; we killed a demon. There is no reason to put a regular girl in the Haven.”
“Er…” I hadn’t really had a chance to talk about what happened in the faery realm except clearly things had not gone as well as hoped.
Harris looked at me. “You don’t have the ring?”
“No.”
“You gave it to the faeries? Why would you do that without even getting anything in return?”
“I did get something in return. My magic.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
Piers lifted a hand. “Well, that settles that. Anyway, Daisy is already there.”
“Daisy?” I cried. “Daisy is at the Haven? Is that why we haven’t heard from her?”
“Probably. It seems she split with the vampires in New York, and she was promptly picked up. I’m sure she’s being well taken care of there.”
“What about Ignatius?”
“Oh…Ignatius. They are certainly looking for…that person.” I got the sense that if Ignatius was caught, it was going to go very badly for him. Hopefully he and Stuart and Professor McGuinness had a safe place to hide.
Piers went to talk with the guards and other professors. They gestured and someone went to the old-fashioned box in the main hall that held a telephone.
Montague looked more nervous than when we went to fight the demon. “I don’t want to go back there,” he said.
“Is it that bad?” Alec asked. “Isn’t it just like rehab?”
“No. It’s not ‘just’ rehab. They only had me for the summer,” Montague said. “And my parents sent me there, so it was…the ‘lite’ version. I’m not sure it’s going to be temporary this time. It’s like prison for warlocks and witches who stumbled into bad magic but aren’t actually bad themselves. Crazy people, and vampires and incubi with all their impulses tamped down. They…things happen there. And now that they’ve got this purification spell, who knows what they’re doing to the people there.”
“Ina is there,” I whispered. “Ignatius’ love.”
Ina. The one family member I had never met. The one family member that no one had seen in many years, by the sound of it.
I felt terrible for her. Everyone said she was ‘crazy’ now, too, so maybe she wasn’t fully aware of what was going on, but what if she was? And she was abandoned by everyone she once loved? It didn’t sound like a place with visiting hours.
“Maybe…I’m supposed to go there,” I said.
“Just to see Ina?” Montague said. “You can’t help her.”
“Maybe I can,” I hissed back. “How do you know?”
“I just told you, it’s prison,” he said. “There are guards everywhere. Security at Merlin College is absolutely nonexistent in comparison, so don’t think just because you can sneak around here that you’ll get any of that there.”
“They still have your car, right?” Alec asked.
“That shit is probably impounded by now,” Montague said. “They’re not keeping that thing and I bet they wouldn’t even know how to sell it. No, we need to fight this.” As Piers came back, Montague said, “I want to call my parents.”
“Your parents have already met with the council,” Piers said. “They already know you have been having increasing contact with your sire and other vampire clans, and they want you to be safe.”
“Alec, what about your dad?” Montague asked.
“You know that’s no good,” Alec said.
“I am not just giving up,” Montague said.
“Monty, I think you’re digging yourself a deeper hole at this point,” Harris said. “You’re in handcuffs. And if Daisy’s there, we can’t just ditch her.”
It was true that Montague couldn’t do much to fight back, but he got that look in his eyes like he was just thinking about how every man in the room would taste, like he would happily murder them all at the first opportunity. It was the face that reminded me, oh yeah, vampires aren’t just cute. We were definitely going to have to keep him under control while we figured out whatever plan we would surely figure out. I had my magic back, so…we could work together and escape, surely. We didn’t need the faeries. We didn’t need the council. I had watched enough cartoons to know that any team of five people with disparate powers and personalities as cool as we were could defeat anything, and we’d already proven it once, so…yeah. Yeah, I wasn’t nervous.
“The car will be here for you in three hours or so,” Piers said. “I have business to attend to, but you will wait here under guard.”
“Can I—can I call my parents?” I asked.
“No,” he said. “They will be notified by courier.”
“So that’s it? We don’t get to appeal or anything?”
“Your friends tried to kill the guards,” Piers said.
“I never intended on killing them,” Montague said. “The world would be a better place if everyone stopped assuming vampires want to kill people instead of just sampling them.”
Piers
ignored Montague. “I wouldn’t bother asking for an ‘appeal’. I wish this was not happening, Charlotte.”
“Well, I wish your guards would stop trying attacking us.”
“I want to run a school of talented, well-behaved students,” he said. “And you are still enrolled. So you are my students. I’m sorry I won’t see you back here.”
Chapter Nine
Charlotte
The Haven.
It sounded like it could be a retirement community, but from all I’d heard, I was imagining a 19th century insane asylum. Like, with towers, and walls that were painted some weird color that no one painted walls anymore, with so much lead in the paint. I imagined weird back staircases, and mysterious cries in the night, and an overcast sky.
On the other hand, they showed up to collect us in a 70s van painted black, which ruined the Victorian atmosphere I was conjuring, but I guess that was in the budget.
They were called “Warlocks for the Maintenance of Peace and Order” because I guess police sounded too ominous, but they were basically the cops, complete with yelling at us and physically shoving Montague in the van, trying to clonk his head on the doorframe on purpose, but he dodged. They looked less enthused about shoving around Alec, since he was more buff than they were, or Harris for the sheer fact that he was warlock royalty.
(Firian, of course, had vanished, although I don’t know if he was really much safer in Etherium.)
The Haven wasn’t actually that far away, just a couple hours’ drive, long enough for me to get increasingly nervous about the fact that I was going to be trapped in this place that scared Montague, and I hadn’t even been allowed to contact my parents. I wondered if they would try to purify me again.
At the end of a winding mountain road, a bell tower loomed up from the trees. We passed through the iron gates, under the script that said ‘Sky Haven Home’.
It was pretty much like I imagined, a sprawling complex of Victorian buildings, with a big green lawn in front peppered with goats. I guess the goats helped them avoid using lawn mowers, and they brought a little cheer to the surroundings. A parking lot was shoved off to the side.
“Isn’t that your car?” Harris whispered.
Montague’s eyes widened as he laid eyes on the one car in the parking lot that stood out like a rap star walking into a old white people fundraiser. Every other car was some sort of old, dignified vehicle in a subdued color and then there was this one import racer with electric blue paint that faded to black in the back and a huge spoiler. Montague put his hand on the glass window like he had seen a long-lost lover on a passing train platform.
“That’s my fucking car,” he whispered.
The car vanished from view as our creeper van pulled up to the front and the warlock cops flung open the doors as a few staff members came down the steps to greet us. The three women all wore prim blue dresses down to the tops of their boots with aprons, and the man wore a black suit. Behind them, the stone face of the Haven rose behind them, almost cathedral-like from here, four stories if you didn’t count the central tower, which was a few more stories.
“There are the Merlin kids,” said Warlock Cop.
The ‘Merlin kids’. Ooh, we sounded kinda infamous.
“Well, they don’t look too bad,” the man in the suit chuckled. “I’m Mr. Coopman and this is Miss de Georgel. We’re going to take good care of you all and help you get back on your feet.”
“We were on our feet to begin with,” Harris said.
“You must be Harrison von Hapsburg Nicolescu!” he said. “We have a very fine room for you. There is no shame in what you’ve done. Killing a demon. Very impressive. But I think you know you have done something wrong, Mr. Nicolescu. Thievery is beneath you.” He turned to Montague and Alec. “Mr. Xarra, I wish I could be more pleased to see you again, but I haven’t lost hope. Often, vampires find purpose, contentment and safety with residence here. And Mr. Lyrman…you’re going to be an interesting challenge, but you are of good stock. I have faith.”
“Mr. Nicolescu says that the girl is the ringleader,” Warlock Cop said. “She is Amelia Halt’s protege and part-werewolf, the granddaughter of Sally Caruthers.”
“Yes. I got the message,” Mr. Coopman said. “Charlotte, from the sounds of it, you still have a lot to learn about the wizard community. Piers’ noted that you may have dealt with some personal aggression from your great-aunt Catherine. She is a strong personality, talented as she may be. Well, I want to assure you that our aim at the Haven is to find ways for everyone to be safe and fulfill their potential.”
“And that’s why you trap vampires here for life,” Montague said.
“I know this is hard to accept, but vampires are rarely safe in society,” Mr. Coopman said gently. “You are dealing with strong needs. It only takes one lapse and you could kill your loved ones, or someone else’s loved ones. Mr. Xarra, we do want to work with you.”
I took Montague’s hand and squeezed it. I knew he didn’t want to be here, but I also knew we weren’t going to argue, snark or punch our way out of this. We had to do something more crafty.
We walked through the doors and I shivered. This place felt extremely haunted. I actually didn’t know just how haunted a building could feel until I walked into the entrance hall, lit only by the tall windows, dreary light falling on chipped white tile and cracked white plaster. There was a check-in desk and a few wooden telephone booths, one currently occupied, and a guard at the door.
“I’ll be showing you to the women’s rooms,” Miss de Georgel said.
“Oh—“ I looked at the guys frantically and Harris lifted a hand.
“No,” he said. “We’re engaged.”
“You and Miss Byrne?”
“Yes. My parents wished it,” he said. “I require a conjugal relationship with Charlotte. Feel free to call them and ask.”
“Very well,” Mr. Coopman said, raising a brow. “I’ll call them now.”
What the what? In what universe could Harris just say he wanted me in his bed and everyone was going to be like, oh sure, that’s fine? Especially considering how old-fashioned this place was.
“They wanted us to get married,” Harris said. “We’ll see if it’s still true.”
“You two in a room alone?” Alec said. “I’m coming over every night.”
“I figured that already,” Harris said. “I know I can’t get rid of you and your demon dick, but it’s still my room.”
“No one has a room yet,” Montague growled. “And good luck getting one. They’re not going to let you have that much fun.”
Mr. Coopman returned. “All right,” he said. “Your parents were pleased with the idea. So let me see if any marriage beds are open.”
We all stared at Harris.
He grimaced. “To be honest, there is a dark side to this, and that’s why it works. I’ll explain later.”
“Ah,” Montague said, nodding.
“What?” I said. “What dark side?”
“Hsst,” Harris said, because Miss de Georgel was staring at us. She gave us a tight smile when we noticed her.
I was definitely on edge as we were shown up a well-worn wooden staircase to a hallway of numbered doors. It smelled sort of herbal and I heard low murmuring behind one door, soft violin music behind another. The walls were a weird sickly yellow color and the doors were brown. Miss de Georgel opened one with a skeleton key. “Here you are, Mr. Nicolescu. It is one of the better rooms we have; of course, I’m sure it is no Ladyswald.”
“Not…quite,” Harris said, like he was trying to eat a very strange foreign meal without offending the hosts.
The room had a big bed with a very heavy headboard. Actually, all the furniture looked like each piece would kill multiple people if you dropped it out a window. Heavy dresser, heavy wardrobe, heavy bookcase, with a worn patterned rug and thick red velvety curtains. On the wall was a still life painting of things I recognized as spell components: herbs, a bottle of tiny crystals, unknown
vials, and a small skull. We also had a bathroom with a clawfoot tub and a toilet that had the tank on top and this big deep sink, like, a sink you could drown someone’s face in ohmigod why am I thinking of it that way?
Of course, I knew why. This place was hella haunted. I was going to wake up to see a woman in Victorian clothes at the foot of my bed crying. For sure. Maybe worse. Blood dripping from the walls? Sure. Unknown baby cries in the night? Definitely. One of those Korean ghosts? Nothing would surprise me.
And I had to sleep with Harris and no one else?
Firian can be here, too. You can insist on that. Calm down.
“Are you scared, Chosen One?” he whispered.
“No, because you owe me your life in order to protect me. And honor is your only good quality.”
He gave me exactly the sort of look I was hoping to provoke—the slightly irritated narrowing of his blue eyes and the quick smile that said, I’ll get the better of you.
Of course, I think I’d gotten the better of him by saving him from death. How could anyone beat that?
But what the nights would be like with him…I shivered to think. And it was a shiver that shot heat straight through me, and made me anticipate the night as much as I feared it.
“Please, settle in and read the rules in the book on the desk,” Miss de Georgel said. “I’ll show you two to your rooms.”
“If you think you’ve figured out a way to get Char to yourself, you’re dead wrong,” Alec said before leaving. “If they chain me to my bed I’ll be in her dreams so much she’ll be too tired to deal with you.”
“Alec, would I do that to you?” Harris said lightly. “We’re friends. I share my toys.”
I elbowed him as Montague tugged Alec out of the doorway. He seemed too grumpy for flirting.
Harris looked in the mirror and checked his appearance, in a casual way that was kinda sexy. I reached for the rule book but he took it from me and dropped it on the bed. “Later,” he said. He reached for my wrist, pressing my hand into the covers as his larger one folded over it, and stole a kiss.
Battle of the Hexes: A Paranormal Academy Series (A Witch Among Warlocks Book 4) Page 6