Dancing With Demons (The Academy of Amazing Beasts Book 3)

by Melody Rose

  Dancing with Demons

  Academy of Amazing Beasts Book 3

  Melody Rose

  Contents

  1. Joan

  2. Joan

  3. Joan

  4. Joan

  5. Joan

  6. Joan

  7. Joan

  8. Joan

  9. Theo

  10. Joan

  11. Joan

  12. Joan

  13. Joan

  14. Joan

  15. Joan

  16. Becks

  17. Joan

  18. Theo

  19. Theo

  20. Joan

  21. Joan

  22. Joan

  23. Joan

  24. Joan

  25. Joan

  26. Joan

  27. Joan

  28. Joan

  29. Theo

  30. Becks

  31. Joan

  32. Joan

  33. Abelard

  Epilogue

  Lady Audrei’s Impish Cayenne Brownies

  Joan’s Wildly Delicious Wily Whisps

  Theo’s Brunch Scramble

  A Note from the Author

  1

  Joan

  Normally, any witch in her right mind would have loved to be personally congratulated by the Headmaster of Bouclier. I, however, was a bit iffy about this since Theo, my unofficial boyfriend and his neglected son, didn’t exactly sing his praises. Based on the rumors that floated around, Abelard Von Brandt had a cushy title but wasn’t known for getting involved with school matters at all.

  Was this just a formality? I wondered if a clumsy and awkward conversation was in store for me. After all, I’d never met the guy, and now, Theo was escorting me to the Headmaster’s private study. It would have taken the edge off of my anxiety if Theo could stay with me the whole time, but that wasn’t in the cards.

  “Are you sure about this?” I asked, twisting my lips. This seemed like a recipe for disaster, an out-of-touch wizard and a mouthy witch. I always had a hard time holding my tongue, especially for people I cared about.

  How could I smile pretty? Even if I was about to be heaped with praise, Theo had been overlooked his whole life. Was that the reason why he was such an overachiever and a hardass? Maybe he made up for an absent father by getting real hardcore with rules. His snottiness really used to piss me off, but I’d since decided I couldn’t fault him. I mean, I wasn’t exactly a walk in the park myself. Growing up unwanted made me really rough around the edges, too.

  I guessed that we both just needed some compassion.

  Theo smirked weakly. He must have sensed my hesitation. As a consolation, he stroked my hair, then gave my cheek a pinch.

  I blushed at the attention. I wasn’t a star chaser, but being doted over by the hotshot on campus added an extra spark to the crush I had. Objectively speaking, he was seethingly hot, with abs that could cut glass and icy blue eyes that could rend a heart. Of course, that didn’t make up for dangling a girl over an ogre or terrorizing her with binding vines. At least, not for the prim and proper.

  I, myself, had more… eclectic tastes.

  “You’ll survive,” he reassured me. “I did, didn’t I?”

  I huffed. “I don’t know if you’re a glowing example for how Abelard lifts up the best and the brightest. I mean, you’ve got to have the highest Spell Point Average here, but you’re still not satisfied. He doesn’t give much in the way of recognition, does he?”

  Theo’s forehead twitched like he was holding back a nasty comeback. He stiffened his lips, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

  Oops. That didn’t land really well. I had to give him credit for exercising some patience, though. I certainly didn’t make it easy. I wasn’t even sure myself if I was fishing for a reaction, maybe one that ended with a sore bottom for me.

  “No, I suppose not,” the usually surly blond admitted. “But I’m sure that you’ll earn some eye-catching regalia, and that will keep some of the high-blood mages off your back. That’s worth suffering through, isn’t it?” Mischief poured through his voice. In certain contexts, the idea of me squirming in discomfort was a perk for him. I was more than happy to oblige, especially if it’d cheer him up. “If not, I can more than make up for it.”

  I gave a hard, short laugh. As much as I preferred to win an argument, he was right. While I pretended to not let little barbs and jibes get at me, I wanted a bit of social capital. What girl didn’t? If I had to listen to some rambling, spacy man to get my medal, I’d chalk it up to the cost of admission.

  “Alright, babe,” I relented. “I’ll put on my game face and get this over with. Don’t worry about waiting up for me! I know this isn’t really your favorite place to hang out.”

  He nodded in agreement as he twirled a lock of my auburn hair around his finger. “You aren’t wrong at all. However, I’ll be the judge of whether or not I stay. I’m not sure if I like the idea of you roaming the halls alone, considering that scare with Lydia. We’ll want to see how the rest of the school truly takes your win.”

  “I’ll be fine.” I stuck out my tongue playfully. “I’m the Champion of Bouclier, aren’t I?” Maybe it wasn’t the most mature response, but I had weird ways of coping with trauma.

  “Proud as a pixie, aren’t you?” Theo lectured me with a click of the tongue, shaking his head. “You have had a respectable semester, but let’s not get too carried away, love. True victory takes time.”

  I tapped my chin and looked up at the ceiling, acting like I had to give that some deep thought. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. If you want to stick around, suit yourself!” I raised a finger. “But one day, I won’t have to look over my shoulder and worry who’s hunting me down. I’ll give anyone who so much as thinks about that a proper education.”

  With that, I twirled around, buoyed by his appreciative chuckle. Despite what he might have thought, I wasn’t kidding at all.

  Soon, he’d see that I could fend for myself.

  2

  Joan

  After all my brave talk, my heart still beat rapidly as I let myself in. I was surprised I was able to turn the doorknob with my slick hands. I ended up wiping them on my robe, then fussing over whether Abelard would judge me for getting sweat on my ensemble. I mean, this man must have been the root of Theo’s impossibly high standards. How was I going to measure up?

  I pushed that out of my head. I wasn’t really here for the wizard’s approval.

  No, I had my own motives for being here. One, I wanted to make it clear that a “lamb’s blood” was as capable as any other mage. Abelard must have already known this, though. Seeing that he whisked me away from my dreary life with a bunch of leeches surviving off what I should have inherited, I’d normally be nothing but grateful, but as it stood, I was a little bitter. Bouclier could have been a perfect haven, but instead, it had a ton of problems. Manic witches, rampant elitism, murderous ghosts, depressed dragons, a literal ogre just levels away from the student body. I mean, wasn’t it the Headmaster’s job to clean up this mess?

  Instead, it became Theo’s problem, and he wasn’t handling it well at all.

  The second item on my agenda was to open Abelard’s eyes to all this. I figured that now was as good a time as any. Based on the rumors, Bouclier hadn’t done so hot with Arcane Contests in centuries. Even by enchanted standards, that must be a pretty long dry spell. I bet I could compel him to listen up now that I patched up his academy’s reputation.

  My goal was to tell him, mincing words, of course, that he couldn’t put so much on Theo’s shoulders. Normally, I’d chew someone out if they p
ushed me too far, but I had to thank Abelard for learning who I really was, a true witch. Plus, I respected my elders. Just a core value, I guess.

  So, I straightened my posture and kept my head up. I was getting pretty antsy as I rehearsed my case in my head. I wanted to be just blunt enough to get his attention without being a total bitch. As I waited for Abelard, I almost began tapping my foot impatiently.

  What was taking him so long? Irk and Yavo, my trusty goblin and troll friends, told me this was a momentous occasion. If that was the case, what was keeping the wizard?

  I began to pace Abelard’s private study, finally getting outside of my head to appreciate the room I was in. For all that he overlooked, the guy had seriously good taste in decor. I guess the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. Every mahogany piece was finely polished, each armchair looked inviting, and dizzyingly realistic paintings lured a visitor into staying.

  As a cozy fire flickered in a marble mantle, I made my way to the wizard’s packed bookcases. I grazed my finger against leather spines. The tomes felt like they were radiating magic even before I opened them. That gave me a little thrill.

  Suddenly, the entire bookshelf swung forward, forcing me to leap back. I squealed, so surprised I didn’t even consider how cliché a secret door was. Very James Bond. Maybe in Lemuria, where advanced mages could teleport, this was seen as pretty clever.

  While I caught my breath, Abelard gave me a bewildered look from where he stood in the now open archway. I should have been the one who felt off guard here! Did he even remember that we were set to meet?

  “Ah! The woman of the…”

  Abelard looked away dreamily, then back at me. His eyes were cloudy and distant, as though he’d aged prematurely and lost most of his vision. Or perhaps he had a vision? It was difficult to tell, and I still didn’t know all of the rules in Lemuria. When he trained his focus on me, he seemed skeptical.

  I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms, letting him finish.

  “Hour… or, if you like, the evening,” he continued. “Though perhaps you are looking for more prestige? Would you prefer for me to dub you the victor of the quarter? I hear that your performance was quite sporting.”

  I paused, unsure if he was serious or mocking me. “I don’t actually care what you call me, to be honest,” I deadpanned. “I just came here because I was told to.” A chill of guilt crept up on me.

  I might be on the sassy side, but I felt I was veering into rudeness. I surprised myself with how I was willing to stare down the most important man in all of Bouclier. Theo brought out the protective mama bear in me, and I was already willing to give Abelard a piece of my mind. I just wasn’t willing to deal with judgment from a person who was barely even around. For decades, even!

  “Right you are,” Abelard agreed, at last done sizing me up. This wasn’t the warm welcome I was expecting. Even though I knew it would just be a rushed formality, I thought he’d put on a good show. What had I done to earn this standoffishness? It seemed pretty weird considering what I pulled off for him.

  I worked up the courage to analyze his aura. There was a whole medley of colors that were difficult to make sense of. It was almost as if someone had hacked his energy field. That, or he was truly driven mad from all the books he steeped himself in, just like Theo told me. Whatever the case was, he clearly had a lot on his mind.

  I decided to rush this along so he could get back to stewing.

  “I’m actually glad I had the opportunity to meet you face to face,” I spoke clearly. I willed myself to come across as confident, arching my back and tilting my chin up. “It’s great and all that I was able to help out Nathan’s team, but there’s more at stake here.”

  Briefly, Abelard’s aura settled into a serene turquoise, which put me at ease for a second. I squinted. This was who he really was, a wise man who couldn’t be easily fooled or pushed around, but then the kaleidoscopic havoc kicked in again. I felt a small jolt of energy that almost made me lurch back. Now, it was obvious that he distrusted me, snapping back to his suspicious nature. This was something Theo didn’t warn me about.

  “You have all the answers, do you?” he challenged, raking his judging eyes over me.

  I wanted to growl as my winner’s high took a steep dive. I forced my temper to a simmer, then plastered on a polite smile. For what it was worth, I was able to fool him. He didn’t give any sign that he knew I was putting on a front.

  “Well, it is only proper that I hear you out now that you have achieved so much, yes?” the Headmaster asked. “What is it that you believe is more pressing than recovering Bouclier’s name?”

  I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. I had been running lines in my head, picturing myself as some romantic heroine who would avenge my spurned lover, a brooding boy with serious issues. Now that it had come down to it, I was beginning to have trouble sorting through my thoughts. They felt like a senseless tangle, a weird outcome since I came in chock full of confidence. I began to feel unusually warm, as though I was being watched.

  I glanced over my shoulder and confirmed we were the only ones in the room. This gave me the push I needed to say my piece. If I could bake morale-boosting pies, I could certainly give constructive feedback, right?

  “Well, I’d say that you might… want to keep tabs on your son just as much if not more than the Arcane Combat and Contests team,” I began. “If I understand the role of Headmaster correctly, you should be taking care of your flock, so to speak, but we never see you. Instead, Theo is left to play your part, except he has his own studies on top of that and so much stress.”

  A light sheen of tears emerged in Abelard’s eyes, but Abelard remained silent. I accepted the opportunity to keep going. He wasn’t stone-hearted, and he’d want to know if he’d want to improve his relationship with Theo if he could.

  I was tempted to reach out and take his hand, but I didn’t know if that’d be appropriate. Instead, I settled for placing my palm on his shoulder. For all of his wisdom and experience, this caught him off guard. His muscles tensed up under his starched dress robe. There was a broken man beneath all his finery, but I didn’t know what was responsible for that. Was it the sheer pressure of his position, or had he never stopped grieving over Theo’s mother? I could definitely relate to that.

  “None of the damage is permanent, I don’t think,” I consoled him. “Sure, it’s been over a decade of absence and neglect absence, as you focused on whatever it’s been. I bet it’s important, but how could Theo know that, especially at a young age? It just looked like abandonment at the worst time possible, when he didn’t have a mother to guide him.”

  A flash of anger shone through Abelard’s eyes, making me wince. Yeah, I wanted to touch a nerve, but I also didn’t want to be incinerated in the process. Who knew if he had a temper? That wouldn’t exactly come as a shocker given Theo’s short fuse.

  “You must know that I have my reasons!” he scolded me. “Do you think a father, a Von Brandt at that, would leave his son stranded without a purpose behind his actions?”

  My lips tightened, a nervous reaction to the hole I dug for myself. I waited for Abelard to ramble on, satisfied that I got him to turn his focus to family matters. Well, what was left of them.

  “Only…” he drifted off again. He had a tendency to do that. “I can’t tell you what that purpose is.”

  I didn’t want to jump to conclusions based on his age, but he seemed to have a screw loose. The way I saw it, he wasn’t actually being secretive and holding back. I began to believe he wasn’t even sure what he was up to. Maybe he thought that if he waded through a bunch of books, a revelation would hit him in the face.

  “Well, I’m here to tell you that, while you might have a compelling reason to be apart from him so long,” I explained, “you have to cut your losses. First off, you’ve already done enough damage leaving him to his own devices. Theo’s basically turned into a tyrant because, deep down, he has no idea what he’s doing.”

  Abela
rd’s bottom lip curled into a frown. I shrugged as though it pained me to deliver the news, but I had to.

  “You are a brave young mage to tell me what others might have been afraid to,” he admitted. His opaque eyes began to clear up. Then, they emanated a soft blue light, and he seemed like he was on some distant plane.

  In my time here, I had heard the upper-level mages whisper about this. Apparently, the Sight could take over an individual with highly trained intuition. Word had it that no one in the last century was skilled enough to pull this off.

  “Thank you.” I tilted my head. “We’re lucky that Theo ran across me… or hunted me down, to put it more accurately. Bouclier could have been really driven to the ground if someone didn’t work up the nerve to intervene. And… Abelard?”

  He stroked his white goatee thoughtfully, caught in his own inner world. I had to repeat myself to break his reverie.

  “Abelard?”

  The wizard shook his head softly, then cleared his throat. “Yes, young Champion? What do you have to ask me? I am willing to answer your questions, within reason. You deserve as much for all that you’ve done.”

  My back and shoulders tensed up, but then the sensation of a warm hand fanned out on my back, which made me pull self-consciously at my robe. Maybe I was burning up from shyness. Was it possible that Theo knew how to cast an invisibility spell and spy on me? Even if he did, I didn’t think he would fess up to it. Maybe one day he would trust me enough to be completely transparent about his feelings.