Discovery of Magick (Dark Light Academy Book 1)

by Tabatha Stephenson

  Great. The sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach was back, this time not because I had no clue what I was doing in half of my classes, but entirely because I had a pretty good idea what Olivant wanted to have a chat about. It had to be Lydia and the scene she’d made in class that day and in the cafeteria. Though if that were the case, I also felt a measure of indignation at not also being summoned. I mean, come on, a good bit of her animosity was either directed straight at me or at others because of me.

  “Yo!” Jacob snapped his fingers at me, leaning across the coffee table to get his hand up close.

  I blinked, shooting him a look of annoyance. “Don’t do that!” I said irritably.

  “Well, don’t avoid the question then.” He leaned back, an unrepentant look on his face.

  “What question?” Joanna asked, joining us.

  “I asked her if we were really doing this,” Jacob rejoined, twirling his forefinger in the air to indicate the group.

  “Study? I should hope so! Felicia and I both could use some help in Mathemegrams, same as Tuesday. I sat in class this morning and realized I did not have the foggiest recollection of half of the stuff I’d learned back in primary school.”

  Jacob grunted. “That’s what you get from copying other people’s homework instead of doing your own. But, no, I’m not talking about studying.” He narrowed his eyes, shooting me a meaningful look. “You know what I mean, don’t you, Tuesday? We really going to hang with them like this?”

  Joanna took a seat next to Felicia, in the armchair at the end of the table. “Yeah, are you really dating him now? Or is that show to keep girls away from him and to make Lydia leave you alone? Because she won’t,” Felicia said.

  “I was wondering the same thing,” Joanna admitted. “I was stopped by a couple girls on my way here from my room. They saw you and Laurent holding hands and stuff and the scene at the cafeteria. They asked me if you two were an item now. I had to tell them I didn’t know if you were or if it was just a show of moral support.”

  This got better and better. I know we hadn’t been friends for more than a hot minute, but for them to distrust what Laurent and I had told them earlier hurt. “Like we both said earlier, we’re trying the dating thing, just taking it slow.” I gave them a smile I didn’t entirely feel right now. “And by the way, dude, the 90s called and want their slang back. ‘Hang with them’, indeed.”

  Felicia and Joanna both giggled. Jacob tore off a corner off a piece of his notebook paper, balled it up, and tossed it at my head.

  “Alright, very funny,” he said.

  Joanna gave me a knowing look. “He must be totally gone on you, then. He’s never made a public display like that before. So if it wasn’t all for show…” Her words trailed off meaningfully.

  “What? Never?”

  “Never,” Felicia confirmed. “Not even when he was made to act as Lydia’s plus one. He always looked so stiff.”

  Joanna’s eyes crinkled. “Neither did Brent or Charles with their ‘dates’, “ She made air quotes around that last word. “It’s why everyone knew she was full of shit, and their chasing after the Trio was just pathetic.”

  “Well, we always knew they were powerful, just not that they were that crazy strong. Compatible magick on the scale they have is extremely rare. Being able to form a triad bond that enhances it? Even rarer.” Jacob’s tone grew somber. “No doubt they kept it on the down-low for as long as possible, giving them time to become legal adults.”

  “Oh, yeah!” Felicia’s eyes widened. “Otherwise, their families could have bartered their services off in advance! They could have forced them to complete their binding and indentured them to some mage or other. Like in that movie, The Mage Rises.”

  “And they would have,” Laurent said darkly, from the top of the stairs.

  “We’ll still have to be vigilant,” Brent added, coming up behind him. Taking a seat, he said, “With Tuesday dating Laurent and acting as an informal locii for the three of us, we’re at risk of someone not wanting to take no for an answer.” Charles came up last to take a seat on the same sofa as Jacob.

  Whoaaaaa, hold on! “You mean someone might try to kidnap us and force us to work for them? I don’t even know what I’m doing yet!”

  “Honey, you’re a locii.” Felicia gave me a pitying look. “You’re at risk of someone trying to snatch you just so they can try to force a binding of their own onto you. Though with the thing you have going on with the guys, if people think your bonds are a done deal, they’ll think they can’t make use of you without the Royal Trio on hand as well. There’s safety in numbers and it’s harder to grab four than it is one.”

  “Right! They couldn’t just kidnap and force one of you because an alarm would be raised, and it’d be unlikely that anyone would manage to grab any of the rest of you. Plus, the one they have wouldn’t be able to do as great a magick on their own, as bonding ties your powers together in a way since there is Fae blood involved.”

  Joanna might think she was reassuring, but wasn’t really. It sounded a whole lot like the Trio and I had to keep looking over our shoulders, that our Fae blood and my being a locii complicated things for any potential kidnappers, but my being a locii made us look super tempting anyways. Also, rather than be able to take things slow, Laurent and I had to make it look as if he and I were a done deal and irrevocably bonded to Brent and Charles as well if we really wanted to try to protect ourselves. I had a sneaking suspicion that involved me getting really up close and personal in a sexy time way with the pair, not just Laurent. My head wanted to explode over trying to parse it all. Everything was just happening way too fast!

  I found myself wishing I could go back in time. My old life in Boring, Kansas, had never looked so good. Even just having to deal with the run of the mill, human sort of school bullies looked more attractive than what I faced now. There was no going back now, though. I’d graduated, the old house was sold, and Marla was either off to Basic Training or was about to be. There was nothing left for me there now but memories.

  Laurent kissed my temple as he squeezed onto the settee beside me. “It’ll be alright. None of us will allow anything to happen to you.”

  “Yeah, we got your back.” Jacob reached his fist out, and everyone leaned in for a fist bump. “Not just Tuesday’s, but all of you, now that we know what the real deal is.”

  I hoped they were right. I didn’t want anything to happen to any of us. My mind cast back to what Laurent had said to me earlier, about how I inspired loyalty even among the newest of my friends. Was it really me, though, or was it my natural magick at play? Was I unwittingly casting some sort of spell over them? I hoped not, but then, if I was, it would also have affected Lydia, wouldn’t it? My head began to ache the more I tried to tease answers out.

  “Meroow?” George sauntered over. Either she really could teleport, or Rina had let her out, as I’d left her asleep on my desk when I left. I gave her a quick chin rub after she jumped up onto the table. Satisfied, she stretched, then sauntered, tail high in the air, to the end of the table. Jumping down, she strolled over to the fireplace. I watched, mouth agape as George stared into the unlit recesses of the hearth while uttering, “Mrupmph,” in a commanding tone and flames leaped. Satisfied as it crackled merrily away, George curled up on the rug in front of it and went back to sleep.

  “Did she just…?” I gasped.

  “Yes, familiars can do low-level magicks such as that on their own. As the bond between you grows and your own powers develop, hers will also grow stronger, and she’ll be able to do even more than that.” Charles pulled out a notebook and pencil. “Shall we get started, then? If we don’t begin now, we won’t have any time before dinner.”

  “Maybe we should make flashcards,” Felicia suggested. “Some of us make basic mathemegram shapes and stuff, and some of us make some of the Fae Alphabet. Then we can study them and quiz each other after dinner.”

  That was a great idea except for one thing. There were fifty-s
even phonemes, and if we also made a dozen mathemegrams, it’d take us well over the amount of time we had left before dinner. I pointed this out. “We only have about fifteen, maybe twenty, minutes before we need to put this all away and head down to the cafeteria.”

  “Yeah, that’s true,” Felicia said. “I know! How about I go back to my room and get the stuff to make the cards and put them in a bag ready for us to make them after we eat? I’ve got loads of index cards and markers and stuff we can use. My mom went kinda nuts in the stationary department of the bookstore.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Brent stood up and stretched. He glanced over at Charles. “We could grab a shower before dinner if we go now.”

  Charles grimaced. “Yeah, I could use one. I’ve got chalk dust in my hair, and it’s making my scalp feel itchy.” He stood up and gathered his books. “Meet back here so we can all head to dinner together?”

  “Yeah, sure,” I said. The others added their agreement to mine.

  “I’ll come to help you get the flashcard stuff ready,” Joanna told Felicia.

  Laurent looked at me, flashing a crooked grin at me. Cocking his head towards the retreating figure of his two besties, he said, “I think they might appreciate it if I took my own shower after study time.”

  Jacob’s eyes widened. “They’re going to share a shower?”

  Laurent shrugged. “Maybe. But I was thinking more of the getting ready to go to the shower.”

  Jacob blushed, looking away. “Oh. “ He cleared his throat. “Yeah, umm, getting their clothes together and things.”

  “And things,” Laurent confirmed.

  Felicia giggled. “Before Laurent makes it any hotter in here with mind porn, I’m gonna head out.” She took off, Joanna going with her, but not before giving us a jocular wave.

  “I’m, uh, gonna go too, put my books away until later.” Jacob’s face and ears still looked flushed. “See you back here in a few.” He dashed off.

  “Well, that leaves us with several minutes to while away until they get back.” Laurent smiled at me. He opened his notebook. “I know we’re going to make flashcards, but how about we go ahead and spend time going over the fundamental stuff?” He didn’t wait for me to answer, sketching a triangle within a circle as he spoke.

  “It’s as a good a plan as any,” I replied.

  “Good,” he answered, warmth making his smile look even brighter. I felt my insides go all warm, and a little flutter started in my stomach. Somehow, mathemegrams didn’t seem quite so daunting now.

  Chapter 10

  I slept like a log after the intense studying session we had. It had really helped, though. By the end of it, I knew about half of the Fae alphabet and had memorized all of the basic mathemegrams. Everyone else was doing equally well with the Fae alphabet and before we’d adjourned for bed, and agreed to meet again after today’s classes for a joint homework and study session. I felt a lot more confident than I had the day before.

  That lasted right until P.E. That’s when I discovered it was not so much P.E. As I knew it, which was bad enough. Nope, it looked like my bestie wasn’t the only one going to Basic Training. This was straight-up some Private Benjamin level shit. The inside of the gymnasium put the Doctor’s Tardis to shame. Outside, it looked the size of a high school gym. Inside was a whole other matter. Forget hardwood flooring and basketball hoops, stadium seating, and all that jazz. Nope, it had grass and freaking sky! It also stretched further than the eye could see, with fields, hills, and trees.

  “Okay, listen up, people! I’m your instructor, and you will only respond to me with a yes or no, addressing me as Sergeant Carter!” our teacher barked. “I retired after working for a damned living, protecting these great lands of ours!”

  Great, the guy even had a drill sergeant mentality. I tried not to giggle out loud as I realized his name was the same as Gomer Pyle’s D.I. in that old show that ran on the classic T.V. channel my aunt and uncle watched in the evenings.

  “Strong bodies require discipline and discipline will, in turn, strengthen your magick!” he continued. “With that in mind, I want you to take note that from next week onwards, we will meet right here at six for calisthenics. You can shower before breakfast, so I don’t want to hear any whining about getting all stinky! Now, I don’t expect you kids to be able to jump on into full-scale body training right away. That’s why this week, you’ll work up to it. So, get in into two rows, an arm’s width apart, and let’s get started.”

  Jumping jacks, arm circles, lunges, toe touching, burpees, crunches, and push-ups followed, along with a few more exercises I didn’t know the proper names for. Then we got to grab a few sips of water before being set off on a run along a trail. I was unsurprised when he began to sing a song that sounded an awful lot like ones I’d heard in Army movies. I guess it was a universal technique or something to count time and set the pace. We jogged in time all the way to a clearing where a tower stood. My mouth went dry at the sight of it. Another class was making use of it, rappelling down it using ropes.

  “I can see you are all excited about the prospect of the tower!” Sergeant Carter said.

  Yeah, I wouldn’t say excited as much as being downright terrified.

  “We will tackle the tower in due course. First, we build your strength and stamina up, and even then, you’ll have to master the obstacle courses first. By the end of the year, you’ll be ready to progress to beginner level battle magick while running the courses and scaling the tower.” He looked confident about that, but his words shot ice through my veins.

  Battle magick? What the ever-loving hell? I was only just learning mathemegrams and beginner charms, and they wanted to toss me into the battle magick end of the pool? No way! I was gonna get killed or something! My brain short-circuited just thinking about balls of magick fire zapping at me while I tried climbing up a wall, down that tower, dodging blasts by trying to swing across a mud pit on a rope, oh my god!

  “Enough gawking, fall back into line,” Carter ordered. “Step out with your right foot, people!”

  Right? I thought it was left first. Whatever. He wanted the right one, so the right one it was.

  “Right, left, right, now, lift your right hand and twirl it in random patterns in the air!”

  Okayyyy. I thought that was pretty strange, too. Then he started singing The J. Giles Band’s Abracadabra, which I thought was rather inappropriate. Every time he got to the part about grabbing, he zinged at the feet of someone out of step or starting to lag behind. I made damned sure that would not be me. By the time we got back to the grassy field we had started out from, I was pooped, both physically and mentally. It had taken a lot of concentration to run in step like that and make sure he wasn’t about to sneak-attack me for being not entirely as synchronized as he’d like.

  “Make sure you do your calisthenics on your own tomorrow, no skipping or next week you’ll pay the price!” he shouted at us. I inwardly groaned at even having homework for P.E. “Dismissed!” I was out of there like a shot, my rubbery legs finding a burst of energy as the door to the real outside appeared at the other end of the field.

  “Hold up!” Joanna huffed, trying to catch up to me. I stopped and waited for her. Reaching me, she came to a halt and leaned over, hands on her knees. “Just let me catch my breath. That man is insane!”

  I was all too happy to stand there and catch my breath. My lungs ached nearly as much as my legs. For the first time ever, I wished I had tried harder in P.E. classes all these years and maybe participated in something physical, like gymnastics or something, when I was younger. Something which would have made me stronger physically, because, man, if I was feeling like this now, I would be sore as hell later.

  “I thought I was gonna barf back there when we began going uphill,” Joanna confided. Wow, she was in even worse shape than I was! My chest hurt, but it hadn’t made me want to yack from hyperventilating. She sniffed. “He told me I need to do breathing exercises and stop breathing through my mouth when
we run.”

  “Well, if it will help…” I shrugged. “I’ll try to not breathe through my mouth either when we run and stuff.”

  “Fine. But if I suffocate, it’s all his fault!”

  I gave a weak laugh. I sincerely doubted she’d suffocate, though I bet it would feel awful until we built up more stamina. “Come on,” I said. “Let’s go get showered and changed.”

  “Yeah, we stink,” she laughed.

  The trek to our dorms felt interminably long when made on tired, aching legs and sore feet. “I need better shoes for running,” I said ruefully.

  “We should go shoe shopping!” Joanna said, becoming excited.

  “Um, and just where would we do that?” I spotted Felicia hurrying towards us and waved.

  “Where would you do what?” Felicia asked as she reached us.

  “Go shopping for better running shoes,” Joanna explained. “I mean, shoes are best tried on before buying, after all.”

  She had a valid point. Felicia seemed to agree. “Maybe we could get a pass to go shopping one day this weekend since it’s for something we actually need for school.”

  “You need running shoes, too?” I asked her.

  “I could use a second pair, I’m sure,” she said with a wink. “We can call home and see if our parents and your aunt can convince them to give us the pass.”

  Well, I did need shoes. I’d bought the wedge-heeled sneakers for every day and a pair of black leather ballet flats for when I needed something dressier. I’d brought my old blue canvas lace-up tennis shoes thinking they’d do for P.E. like they had in high school where we mostly just played volleyball, frisbee golf, and stuff like that. Well, I say played, but mostly a few girls played while the rest of us just sort of tried to make a show of pretended effort and chatted. I found myself wondering if Marla was also cussing herself out for slacking during P.E. while she went through Basic.