Draiochta Academy: All Genres Academy Anthology

by BBB Publishings

  “Mom, I fucked up,” I tell her. I’m ashamed. I’m afraid of what she will think when she knows what I did to Jayden.

  “Oh baby girl, you didn’t fuck up, you just did something you didn’t even know you could do. We’ll get through this. I should have seen it coming, it was always a possibility, but we didn’t want to believe it. If anyone is to blame, it’s your father and me.” She pulls away for a moment to look into my eyes. There is so much concern there, and I know it’s for me. Nothing in this world could tear us apart, even if I’m some weird magical freak.

  We walk into the house, ready for whatever happens next. Today is already the worst day of my life, I don’t know if I have any more in me to give. When we get to the kitchen Ilan and Jared are sitting at the table. My heart sinks a bit. I didn’t need to see Ilan again for at least another ten years. I steady myself and take a seat, preparing for the onslaught I know I’m going to get but it doesn’t come.

  Ilan looks chastised. His eyes turned down and hands folded in front of him. I’ve never seen him so submissive. It’s so unusual, I turn to my parents for an explanation and then I see it. The death glares my parents are giving him, have everything to do with it. He doesn’t feel sorry, he just doesn’t want to incur any more of their wrath. Well, whatever works and keeps him quiet is fine by me.

  Pouring myself a shot of whiskey from the bottle placed in the middle of the table, I steel myself for the conversation ahead. My parents take a seat with the rest of us and by the time I’ve had my fourth shot I feel steadier, and perhaps a bit tipsy, but something tells me this isn’t going to be a good conversation. No one says anything and the silence is grating.

  “Ok, can someone please tell me what the fuck happened to me tonight?” I snap. The alcohol has given me courage, and my patience is gone.

  “How the fuck did I turn my boyfriend into a zombie?”

  “He’s not a zombie sweetheart,” my mom says. “You animated him. He’s not going to need to eat brains or start rotting, but he will need to drink blood. He’s bound to you. You are his master and he’ll abide by your command.”

  “How did this happen?” I ask. I didn’t ask for any of this. My hands begin to shake and I feel the alcohol making a comeback. My life has been turned upside down and from what it sounds like, my parents have had the answers all along.

  “Well, that’s for me to explain,” my father interjects. His eyes hold all the sorrow of a thousand regrets. I want to feel bad for him, but right now my life has blown up and I’m not sure I can give him what he needs.

  “You?” I say. “Why you?” My words sound short, a tone I’d never take with him normally, but nothing about this night is normal. I feel isolated from my parents at this moment. They have always been so amazing, helpful, and loving. Now I’m feeling like it all could be a lie.

  “Because it’s my family that has the necromancy curse.” His hands twist in fists and my mother places her hands over them.

  “The necromancy curse? What is that?” My education and drive in all things magic should have made me aware of this. That it was my family should have made me an expert, but I was left in the dark and now the worst has come from it.

  “I think it’s better to start at the beginning, dear,” my mother says squeezing his arm for a moment and then giving me a tight smile.

  “Can I have a shot of that?” my father asks, nodding at the glass and bottle on the table. I slide them over to him and wait until he takes his fill.

  “I come from a magical line much like your mother’s,” my father begins. “Unlike her, however, my origins are based in Haiti, in the old magic of Vodou.”

  “Vodou?” I whisper. I, of course, know what it is, but I never would have guessed my family studied that type of magic, it’s so unlike how I’ve grown up.

  “Yes, and it’s more powerful than you can imagine. The witches of my family were known for a very special gift — raising the dead. In the beginning, it was revered and controlled. It was used to talk to the dead, to give closure, it was never meant to be used for evil. Just because magic is dark doesn’t make it bad. Some magic is light and others are dark, that’s just how it works,” he says. We’ve been taught the exact opposite of what he’s saying. This is so unlike my father. I’m starting to wonder if I know him at all.

  “Death magic can be used for good?” I study the rest of my family to see if they have known about this the whole time, and it seems they have. A fresh wave of anger comes over me and I grit my teeth before I do something rash.

  “Yes, mon chere, absolument,” he adds slipping into his creole as he speaks about his family. It doesn’t come out much, but when he’s upset it tends to make an appearance.

  “However, when your great-grandmother came to this country, she had to hide who she was. Especially her name because a few of my family members had done some horrible things. My name, our surname, it was known throughout the land, and it was not received with positivity.

  I don’t know what to say. This is all too much. Placing my head in my hand, I run my fingers over my hair. It’s curly mess flying in all directions. I can only imagine what I look like.

  “What is it? Our real last name?” Jared asks. So, he doesn’t know everything. This brings me some sort of comfort.

  “Etienne,” I answer before he can. Just saying the word sends a chill through me. It’s a powerful name, one that’s more so than Stephens, but it makes me wonder how much.

  Putting two and two together, I say, “That’s why the Prince called you that? He knew what your real name was? Why? And how does he know?” Disbelief makes it harder for me to get over their omission. An outsider knew secrets about my family, and yet I knew nothing.

  “Cruce Nox is very old. His people are not from this world. He’s a disgraced prince, one that can never go back to his home. The only reason he’s here is because he’s the best at what he does. He’s the reason there aren’t as many demons and other creatures running around our world.”

  “He’s a douche, and shouldn’t be working with civilized society,” Ilan scuffs. His usual cruelty riding up to the surface. From this statement alone I want to be friends with the prince.

  “He’s actually quite helpful in RID. He lends a hand whenever we need to figure out something about the ‘others’,” Jared replies. He always has a way of making things clinical and reasonable. He leads with his mind and his heart comes second. Ilan scowls but Jared ignores him.

  I appreciate this in Jared. I know he loves me, but we also share the bond of knowledge, and sometimes facts are better than emotion.

  “My brain hurts. All this information. I’ve been in the dark for so long, and none of you seem to understand this affects me the most. It’s lore to the rest of you, but it’s my new reality. Jayden is dead. His true soul moved on and now I have to come to terms with what I did to his body. I don’t think I can forgive this so easily.”

  “It’s not something we intended to happen,” my mother says, her voice low and sorrowful.

  “But it did!” my voice growing louder, the liquor making a comeback. “My life was perfect. I had everything and because you turned a blind eye to what I could become it’s over. Everything is over!”

  “Why is it only Kia? Why was Ilan or I never warned?” Jared asks, after my outburst.

  “Necromancy requires a high level of power. When Ilan didn’t exceed a 9 on his test we knew he was in the clear.

  Ilan turns as red as his dark skin will allow. He’s furious and his eyes blaze with anger toward me. Like I chose this. One more thing he’ll hate me for.

  “When you were a perfect 10 we would have been terrified but we already knew that you were going to be in RID. You showed you had great power, but it was in creation magic. Then Kia was born. Our third child, and a girl, well the odds were in her favor, but we had hoped that it wouldn’t come to pass. That was our fault and perhaps if we had warned you instead of hiding things, you’d have been more careful. But we were worried
that if you knew, you’d be curious to learn more and we couldn’t let that happen.”

  I get up from the table slamming my hands down. Leaving the kitchen I run up the stairs to my bedroom. There’s nothing they could say that would convince me this isn’t a nightmare. Jayden is gone, my life plan ruined, and now a new power I will have to face on my own. I don’t even know where to start or who can help me.

  Well, that’s not true, I do know. The Demon Division led by an Unseelie prince. One who seems to despise my father for some reason I don’t even know yet.

  As I approach the door, I sense a figure is in my room, and when he comes out of the shadows I don’t scream, instead, I turn to calmly face him and ignore the raging hormones crashing through me.

  “Hello, Cambion,” I drawl. Feigning disinterest to gather strength enough to stop me from combusting. My mind knows it’s wrong, but his powers are so strong.

  “You remembered me, how sweet,” he replies with a smirk on his lips, far too luscious to be called manly. Cambions are built to be sensual creatures, and I can feel his power reaching out for me. But now I know what to look out for.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Boss wanted me to give you this, in person. He was afraid your father might do something stupid like burning it.”

  He hands me a thick black envelope my name scrawled on the front in silver ink. I flip it over and rub my fingers over the seal of the Demon Division.

  “Consider yourself tapped, Kia Etienne, read the invitation, do what it says, and don’t try to hide. This is your destiny now.” His eyes soften for just a moment, “I know this isn’t what you planned, unlike most of us you didn’t grow up knowing you’d end up in DD, but it’s your place now.”

  He comes toward me and reaches out to touch me, but I pull away. The last thing I want is to be touched after everything that has happened with Jayden, regardless of the way I feel around him.

  “I’m sorry about your friend,” he says, sighing like he knows my pain. Your magic is powerful and therefore comes at a great cost. We can help you, don’t let what your father thinks to dissuade you, and don’t wait too long. You need to be trained by those that can handle it. The EOO can’t offer that. We’re not the bad guys, Kia.”

  With that, he leaves, leaping out of my window and melting into the shadows. If his scent weren’t still hanging in the air and the weight of the envelope in my hand, I’d think I was dreaming.

  Breaking the seal, I slip out the almost translucent paper. The words are written in the same silver ink as the envelope. I make my way to my desk and flick the lamplight on. Pushing some of my papers and books aside, I have a seat and read the letter.

  When I finish I’m stunned. It’s not just a list of instructions that surprise me, if anything they’re the least of it. It’s the additional message that fell out. Written in an elegant pen too old to come from someone born in this century. I’d know it’s from the Prince even if I hadn’t read his signature. He apologizes to me for the crude introduction to my new world. He says that he’s sorry for the way my father chose to hide the truth from me of what I could be and that he’s actually looking forward to training me, and then he gives me a word of caution.

  The choice is yours Kia. You do not have to choose us, but if you don’t you should know what the consequences are. I say this not to sway you, but to give you all the options and make you aware of what’s at stake.

  You can stay with the EOO. You can ignore your gifts and hope they go away, but you will find yourself unable to return to normal. Your necro gifts will feed on your witch powers. Without the proper outlet, you will be drained.

  Or you can join us, and we will show you how to use your gifts. You may be shunned but you will be powerful and safe. Your life will have meaning and you’ll still be helping people but in a more hidden way.

  We are not kind men. Training will be brutal, sometimes unbearable, but I sense you can handle it. The choice is yours — be mediocre or be powerful.

  There are more words on the page but I can’t bear to read them. Instead, I shove the letter in the back of my desk drawer, overwhelmed. His words call to me, but after tonight I can’t rise to the challenge. He acts as if my magic is to be revered, but when I think of Not Jayden I can’t agree. I turned my best friend, my first love, into a slave. How can magic like that be a gift?

  Tonight has been the worst it could ever be, but there is still so much left unanswered. As much as I don’t want to, I need to finish the conversation with my parents. It’s the only way I’ll be able to solve this mystery, find out who I am, and why this is all happening to me. Part of me still wants to be childish and hold this over their heads. I’ve always been stubborn, but now is not the time to let my pride and ego get in the way.

  I grab a cream-colored angora sweater out of my closet and thrust my hands and head through it, hoping to ward off the cold permeating my body.

  With a huff, I head down the stairs to find out about my heritage. There needs to be more to this than just words and stories. Written proof. If this is something that has been happening for centuries there has to be a way to learn more.

  Pausing by the door for a moment I steel myself, taking a deep breath and pushing through the doorway. All eyes snap to me, and I take my place in the chair I left a little while ago.

  “Kia, I didn’t think you’d come back,” my father begins, a look of contrition on his face. “I was going to leave this for you to read, but since you’re here I think we should start it together.”

  In his hands is a book I’ve never seen before. It’s a grimoire with a crescent moon symbol on the cover and spine. Leather encases the book, cracked and worn from years of use. The pages are yellowed from time and the paper looks like it will crumble at any moment. Beautiful penmanship scrawls across the pages in the language that I didn’t know a day ago. This is the language of the dead. The language of my family. Our name, Etienne is scrawled on the cover in gold lettering, marking this curse as ours.

  “I haven’t held this book in my hands for so long,” my father whispers. His voice cracks and everything he’s been trying to shield me from is lost. “I’d hoped I would never again, but it’s a part of me, a part of our family. I was wrong to hide it from you. I promise from this day forward I will never lie to you again. There is so much at stake now and we only have each other. Let me begin to make this right by telling you about a very powerful magic called Voodou. And also your great-grandmother, named Evalen, who both blessed and cursed our family. She was a witch, like no other, given the gift of necromancy like her ancestors before her. Their magic was revered by the inhabitants of Haiti. People sought out our family for help when no others could. They guided the souls of the dead from this world when they were unable to cross over. They found the killers of those who were taken too soon. They even helped to control dark spirits and protect their villages. That is until Evalen lost the love of her life.

  We talked long into the night. Evalen’s story is something I will never forget. It doesn’t mirror my own, but it produced a curse so foul that we are now all in danger. My family can protect me, but only so much. Something grows inside of me, and there is no way of stopping it. I have to learn how to control it and I don’t know if my parents are the best people to help me.

  The letter weighs heavily on my mind. The DD has the answers I seek, but can they be trusted? Their powers are dark, matching my own, but they aren’t family. They don’t care for me like my parents, but the Prince did know my great-grandmother by name. Maybe he could solve some of this mystery.

  I lay down on my bed staring at the night sky out my window. It’s clear tonight and the stars are shining like little flecks of silver painted onto a black canvas. This choice I have to make is impossible. My father won’t understand if I join the DD, but I could hurt someone if I don’t. I hold Not Jayden’s existence in my hands. He is mine to control until I banish him back from where he came. I’ll never forgive myself for it, but
I can prevent it from happening again. My fate may have just brought me four strangers who know more about the darkness that creeps in my soul than anyone. But will I be able to rise to the challenge and what will my family think?

  MORE FROM A.C. WILDS

  THE CHANGER SERIES

  Death Card - Book One

  Claiming Death - Book Two

  Death Ruins - Book Three

  Boxset

  NORTH AMERICAN WEREWOLVES

  Blackclaw

  Omega Secrets

  Omega Christmas

  Bravecrest

  Alpha’s Match (Feb 2020)

  Books 2 and 3 (Early 2020)

  Battleridge

  Books 1-3 (Mid 2020)

  SAINTS AND SINNERS

  Sinner’s Harem

  ANTHOLOGIES

  Lady Luck

  Bewitched Arrows (takes place in Azra’s world)

  Enemies of Desire

  A Bite of Summer

  Stained in Blood

  Death Tower

  FOUR HORSEWOMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE

  The Pures - Volume 1

  MORE FROM ISOBELLE CARMICHAEL

  ELEMENTS OF TWILIGHT SERIES

  Blood Moon Magic

  Aether Magic

  FOUR HORSEWOMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE

  The Pures - Volume 1

  The Mystery of BBB Academy

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