by Evie Wilde
“We have to do something,” Oliver said. “We can’t let all these people die.” He stood at the door watching me check on our classmates. He removed his computer from his pocket and attached to the illegal Internet. “The dark web is buzzing about Edius and Ren. It says people are starting to follow them and learn their ways. We have to stop him.”
“Agreed,” I said. “I’ll take Ruby and Nicolette to Aurelius’ office, and we’ll review the scrolls. You take the guys and walk the rest of campus to make sure everyone is accounted for.” I looked at each of the others grimly. “Come find me if you run into Edius or Ren. We fight together.”
“Understood,” Oliver said, and they left the building.
Braeden looked back and lipped the words, “Be careful.”
I nodded and then turned to Ruby and Nicolette. It was on the girls to get us moving in the right direction. “We need to figure out those scrolls,” I said.
“Why’d that asshole wait so long to tell us?” Nicolette asked. “The spirits seem to know things just at the right time.”
“We need to keep an eye on Sonny,” Ruby said. “I don’t trust him. Everything with him is too convenient. I looked in his student file. There was nothing but basic information.”
“I’ll see what Oliver can find,” I said. “Now let’s go figure out those scrolls.”
We returned to the van and grabbed the scrolls and headed around the backside of the faculty building to where Aurelius usually entered his office. I still hadn’t figured out why he didn’t use the main entrance. As long as we’d known the man, he was still one big mystery.
“You smell that?” Ruby asked. She sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose.
“Smells like ass,” Nicolette said.
“I don’t want to know how you know that,” I said, and then stared toward the forest where the trees shook. “I know that smell.” We stuffed the scrolls into our packs and stood side by side.
“You going to let us in on the secret?” Nicolette asked as the three of us stared toward the trees. Apparently, she’d forgotten the destruction I caused last year while ridding a city of monstrous attackers.
“Sarchi,” I said. “They sense the gloom and pending deaths. They’re here to hurry the process.”
The first one burst through the trees and galloped toward us, but we wasted no time destroying it with half a dozen fireballs. The three of us glanced at each other and smiled. Nicolette quickly pulled her hair back and threw it up in a ponytail. The ladies were on a roll while the guys played security guards on campus.
A second and third Sarchi bounded toward us. “I got this,” Ruby said and ran toward them. She raised her hands toward the sky, sucking water from the clouds. Her hands suddenly became shimmering ice swords. She leapt into the air and then went into a roll along the ground between the two creatures, slicing them in half. She stopped quickly and turned, her hands returning to normal.
“We’re going to have to get matching spandex outfits,” Nicolette said and smiled. “Something tight and seductive.”
“I’m down with that,” I said. While Ruby’s pride got the better of her, another Sarchi soared from the tops of the trees. “Duck!” I yelled, and Ruby did, the Sarchi barely missing her. The creature let out a hellish cry, disappointed it had failed.
I charged forward, the Sarchi having me in its crosshairs. We made a straight line toward one another, and the creature opened its large clawed hand. It swiped at me, and I felt the air swirl from the power in the hand. The Sarchi missed, and I immediately subdued the creature with a chain of fire, the abomination writhing on the ground. I watched it momentarily and then jerked the chain back. It sliced through the creature with ease.
Nicolette and Ruby joined me, and we stood over the creature, each of us placing our left foot atop its barrel-like belly.
“We are some badass bitches,” Nicolette said, and the three of us laughed. “I’ll get started on those outfits first chance I get.”
The attack had been a welcome release from the pressures of the day. It allowed us to release our anger and aggression. We had, at least for the moment, saved the academy from another attack. I sniffed the air again to make sure there were no other Sarchi in the area. I doubted they had been drawn here intentionally by Edius. In fact, the creatures would not play sides with people not from the underworld.
We grabbed our packs and turned when the clapping began, the guys standing near one of the buildings watching us, three young, hot women fighting evil.
We climbed the stairs to Aurelius’ office where we found Aurelius sleeping on a cot in the corner of the room. He didn’t appear to be sick or under the spell of a hex, so we let him sleep. He needed to be at full strength in order to help anyone.
Nicolette cleared Aurelius’ desk, and we unrolled the first five scrolls. The guys had wanted to open the scrolls in the van, but I said no, suggesting it best to open with Aurelius present which he was, sort of. Truth was, I didn’t want to open the scrolls in front of Sonny. I didn’t want his input just yet.
Ruby shook her head. “I can’t read it. It’s a bunch of gibberish.”
Nicolette pulled the scroll close and sighed. “The language looks familiar, but I can’t read it either.”
“It’s old Latin,” I said, and ran my finger under the first three sentences of the first scroll, frustrated. I looked at the other four scrolls we’d opened. We were about to take two steps back. “It’s here. I know it is.”
“Try this one,” Ruby said and slid her scroll in front of me. “Read it again.”
“Some of the writing is unclear,” I said, “but this may be a poisoning hex, similar to the one used at the fall festival.” I glanced over at the snoring Aurelius, debating on whether or not I should wake him. “We need to take these to the headmaster. Maybe he can decipher the rest of the text.” I nodded at Nicolette’s scroll. “Let me try that one again.” I read through the scroll again the best I could. “These have to be it. This one sounds like the other hexes the campus has experienced.”
Nicolette huffed, as if she was mad I had figured out the scrolls. I wanted to tell her it was a group effort, but we didn’t have time to stroke egos.
I scooped up the scrolls and stuck them in my pack and started from the office, Ruby behind me, Nicolette still sitting at the desk. “You coming?” I asked.
“You’re fine without me,” she said sarcastically.
“Fine,” I said. “Keep an eye on Aurelius, and let him know what we’re doing when he wakes up.”
When we got to the admin building, we found the halls empty; even the headmaster’s secretary was gone.
“Something’s not right,” Ruby said. “I’m picking up a bad vibe.”
“You and me both. Aurelius and Headmaster Eiphas should have been aware of the scrolls. Why didn’t they go looking?” The number of people we could trust was dwindling.
Headmaster’s door was slightly ajar, and we could hear him inside his office, coughing. We knew then he’d been affected by the latest hex.
I pushed the door open, and the headmaster looked up. “Ladies,” he said, and went into a coughing fit. When he stopped coughing, I removed the scrolls from my pack and laid them on his desk.
Headmaster Eliphas moved back a bit and stared at the scrolls. He knew exactly what they were, and their presence seemed to make him uneasy. “Where’d you get these?”
“The guild,” I said.
He looked at the open door. “Where’s Aurelius?”
“Sleeping,” Ruby said. “But he seemed to be fine.”
“Neither of us are fine,” Headmaster Eliphas said. “We’ve been cursed with a different hex. Until we find a cure, it’ll eat away at us, and we’ll both be dead by the end of the year.”
“Maybe these will help,” I said and pointed at the scrolls.
He grabbed the scroll we had yet to open and opened it himself, staring at it for a moment. Ruby and I moved to his sides to see what he was reading. The spe
ll on the page was much easier to read than the others, but that could have been because I remembered Aurelius trying to teach it to us months ago. He didn’t end the spell, opting to let us figure out how the spell ended.
“He told us he didn’t know the ending to the spell,” I said.
“Who?” Ruby asked.
“Aurelius,” I said angrily. I moved around the desk and paced the room, all the things that had happened finally coming into focus. “Aurelius has known these spells all along.”
“Stop,” Headmaster Eliphas said. “He has not. These are spells made up by Ren and not shared with everyone. He didn’t tell you the end of the spell because he himself did not know. Don’t blame him.”
“But you did know,” Ruby said accusatorily.
“What?” I questioned.
“Tell us,” Ruby insisted.
“I know the spell on this page because my younger brother made the spell when we were fledgling warlocks,” he said. “We were dealing in some darker magic in our spare time.”
I stopped pacing and placed both hands on the desk. “Ren,” I said, and he nodded. “He’s your brother.” I said the words slowly so they would sink into the headmaster’s head. I grabbed the small statue on the corner of his desk and threw it through the window. “You knew all along!”
I quickly pulled my wand from my pocket and started to hit him with my own hex, but Ruby grabbed my arm. “Don’t, we might need his help.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. He looked up at me. “We can work together to fix this. I know we can.”
“Depending on who your allegiance is to,” I said sharply. I pointed my finger at him. “If we can’t trust our mentors, guildmasters or headmasters, who can we trust? Your actions have devastated this campus.” I shook my head at him. “Did you know Ren was going to allow Edius to attack and destroy the guild?”
“Of course not, Cassandra! I would never let that happen!”
“Now what?” Ruby asked.
“We need to find the guys and let them know what’s going on,” I said. “I’m tired of people hiding things.” I glared at the headmaster.
“We have plenty of time to stop Ren,” Headmaster Eliphas said. “Classes have been cancelled until further notice, until we find him.”
“That’s very brave of you,” I said, “seeing as how there are no students to attend class!”
“Tell us about the hex,” Ruby said.
“Only Ren has the counter-spell,” he said. “Until then, the students and professors will starve to death and become dehydrated. This needs to be our main priority. At least we know what the hex is now.”
I tightened my hand around my wand, the rage inside growing faster than I could subdue it.
“Come on,” Ruby said and pulled me away. “Let him think about what he’s done.”
Neither of us said a word until we were outside the admin building, “Can you believe that shit!” I said. “He knew all along!”
Ruby raised her hands in surrender. “We can’t fix this if you’re expelled,” she said. “You have to calm down.”
I took a deep breath and then screamed as loud as I could. I shot several fireballs into the sky, none of them returning to the academy. “We need to fix this!”
“We will,” Ruby said calmly, looking into my eyes and bringing me down off the edge. “Let’s go find the guys and get a game plan.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Cassandra
“This place has gotten too creepy,” Ruby said. “I’m glad the semester is about over. It feels lonely as hell with everyone still sick and sleeping.” She put away her dishes and returned to the living room. “It sucks not knowing what to do. It sucks even more waiting around while those assholes plan another attack.”
“I think we’re close.” I turned on the couch. “Oliver’s in the classroom building now, working on breaking the spell. He’s trying to find out more about Ren and the headmaster, searching on his computer for any work the two may have put out on the Internet before it was banned.”
“Edius has been curiously absent during all this,” Ruby said. “That’s what really worries me. You know, I keep going back to last year when Edius and Challis attacked the campus. He had the opportunity to kill me, and he didn’t. He just stared at me. Why?”
“That’s bugged me as well. He let both of us go. But the way he looked at you? There was something there.” I let out a sigh of frustration. “I tried to talk to Headmaster Eliphas about us sitting around and waiting, but he went into one of his coughing fits and asked me to leave. He’s not going to last much longer.”
“Which is why we need to know what he knows.” Ruby stared out the window. “I can get into his office when he leaves.”
“No, we can’t risk you getting caught and being expelled. We’ll figure it out without you getting into trouble.”
“Just remember it’s always an option.” Ruby grabbed her backpack. “Nicolette and I are going to the library. You’re welcome to join us. There won’t be a line.” She laughed because we were trying to find everything possible to laugh at, hoping to keep ourselves from going insane over the situation at the academy.
“Thanks, but I'm going to check on Aurelius. Make sure he doesn’t need anything. Our training sessions have gone to crap ever since he got sick.” I laid my spell book on the table. “Make sure you two stay together. Remember, fight as a team.”
“I have no problem with that.” Ruby slung her pack over her shoulder.
“Not you I’m worried about, but who knows what Nicolette will do?” I still had a tinge of suspicion about Nicolette, but I couldn’t quite figure out why. “What do you think about her?”
“Her magic is unbelievable. And she controls it like a seasoned witch.”
“But can we trust her?” I asked. Too many people were turning out to be backstabbers.
Ruby thought about her answer before speaking. “I think so. Other than her ego, she hasn’t given us a reason to dislike her or think she’s part of the Edius shit-show.”
“Fair enough.” We really had no other proof she was harmful to the group.
“The guys coming over tonight?” Ruby raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, a knowing smile on her face. “You can’t keep putting that off. You know it’s coming.”
The guys were over every night, if not all together then dropping in individually. “Yeah, Oliver is supposed to make his world-famous pizza. Dash claims it’s the best pizza we’ll ever have.”
“I’ll make sure I’m around for that. But you know that’s not what I’m talking about.” Ruby gave me a hug goodbye, a habit we’d picked up the same day we fought off the Sarchi outside Aurelius’ office.
“Yeah, I know. Have fun at the library.” We had become very close, and she was the one person outside the guys I thought I could trust without question. When she left, I started a hot shower and stood naked in front of the bathroom mirror for several minutes, studying myself, happy with the way I looked.
Life had become one complication after another, but despite those complications I could say my life with the five guys was working out phenomenally. Although I was still sensing Kyler’s angst about Sonny, and that angst was beginning to interrupt our cohesiveness. We needed a serious chat about whatever was bothering him. It was time to stop him from running.
I smiled at myself and stepped into the spray of the shower, the warmth exhilarating. I wanted nothing more than to set all these things straight, to bring the students and faculty back from their illness; to make the academy whole again. At some point we needed to go back to attending classes like normal students, without all the drama and danger. I absolutely had to make that happen.
I finished showering and put my hair up, opting to let the warm air outside dry my hair. I slid into a light-blue pair of spandex, knowing I would garner the attention of all four guys, even Kyler if he was around. I grabbed my wand and shoved it into my pocket and headed to Aurelius’ office, hoping to find an improved ma
n.
The courtyard in the center of campus was unkempt and in serious need of upkeep. Weeds were growing in flower beds, and the grass needed to be mowed. Several of the lights that were supposed to come on in the evening were burned out. We desperately needed the campus to return to normal.
I climbed the stairs to Aurelius’ office, listening for movement inside. Losing him would mean the end of the Enchanted Academy. Headmaster Eliphas may have run the campus administratively, but Aurelius was the one everyone looked up to and went to for advice. Hearing nothing, I knocked on the door and waited. I waited only a few minutes before I opened the door and found him still lying on his cot, his eyes closed, his breathing raspy. He was worse. The world of magic was going to truly rely on a bunch of twenty-somethings to battle Edius and Ren.
“Aurelius?” I nudged his shoulder. He didn’t move or reply. I placed two fingers on his wrist and counted his heartbeats, sadness filling my soul. I pulled his blanket over his shoulder and kissed him on the forehead. I sat on the floor next to him and tried to find the voice within, the one that had given me so much confidence before. Unlike before, I was met with complete silence. “Come on, old man, we need you.”
He opened his eyes briefly and looked at me, but he said nothing before closing them again.
“Talk to me, Aurelius. Tell me what’s going on.”
“He looks like shit,” Dash said when he and Oliver entered the office. “I heard you talking to him. Any change for the better?”
I shook my head. “We need to help those who can’t help themselves, including him. This has to stop, Dash.” I ran my hand over Aurelius’ head. The man had done so much for us, and yet we were useless to him. “Why is all this happening?”
“I don’t know, Cass, but we’re going to figure all this out.”
“Yeah, that’s what we all keep saying.” I rubbed Aurelius’ head again.
“We should get the headmaster,” Dash said. “Maybe he has an update.”
“That old man can’t do anything.” I’d still not forgiven. “We have to wait this out until we find Ren. As much as I hate waiting.” I stood, and the three of us moved to the door, leaving behind a man I wasn’t sure would be alive the next time we visited.