The halls were empty and all the classroom doors were closed. I hesitated in front of a classroom, wondering if I should open the door but fear prevented me from tugging it open. What if the professor wasn’t moving in slow motion and they punished me for walking into their class?
Since I’d arrived, the threat of confinement had been dangled over me along with the looming sense of dread that I would fail and be sent somewhere worse than here.
Fuck. I had no good options.
Feeling defeated, I ran back toward the gym and burst through the doors to find everyone standing in a loose group, glaring at me.
“You. Confinement. Now.” Coach Miller slithered toward me, a vein throbbing in his bulging neck.
I swallowed hard. “It was an accident, I swear.”
“Manipulating time is forbidden,” he said. “I don’t even know how you managed it, but you’ll wait in confinement until the enforcers arrive. With any luck, your magic will be removed by sunset.”
“What?” I cried out. “I just got here. And I didn’t even know that was a thing. The time thing or the magic removal or the whole fact that I could even do that.”
“It was my fault,” Luka said. “She didn’t manipulate time, I did it.”
“Nice try, Demon,” Coach Miller said. He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door. “I knew there was something weird about you.”
“It’ll be okay,” Luka said.
I wanted to believe him. I needed to believe him. But right now, I was having trouble seeing how that could happen. This had to be the worst gym class ever.
23
Raven
Confinement wasn’t exactly what I expected after all the threats. I had imagined a dark cell lined with bars and the sound of dripping water.
What I hadn’t imagined was a small white room with a single white upholstered chair. It was more like the waiting room of a hospital than the scary place they warned me about.
I paced the room for a bit, my hair blowing into my face every time I walked past the overly efficient air conditioner. Goosebumps rose on my legs from the chill in the air.
Every time I completed the tiny circle in the room, I passed the white chair. It seemed to call to me. As if it wanted me to sit on it, but something about it also repelled me. Warning me to avoid it. It was just a chair but then again, this place wasn’t just a school. Now that I’d had a taste of magic, on several different levels, I was wary of everything.
Besides, if I didn’t have my instincts, what else did I have?
The door opened, and I turned to see Dr. Green filling the doorframe. His fangs looked even more threatening when he was scowling.
“It was a mistake, I swear, I didn’t even know I could do that let alone that it was illegal, I just didn’t want to get my ass kicked, you know?” I said.
He held up his hand, and I stopped talking. He lingered in the doorway, not leaving the apparent safety of the open door. He looked even more uncomfortable than I felt.
“There’s someone here to see you,” he said. “I’m afraid this is out of my hands.”
“But it was an accident, you have to believe me.” I wasn’t even sure why I was fighting so hard to keep my magic. I’d only had it for a short time and I didn’t even know if I wanted it.
Something had shifted in me in that time. Now that I’d felt it, it was like another limb. The idea of it being cut from me was terrifying. I wasn’t sure when the change happened or why I’d suddenly embraced it as part of me, but it was. It was part of me the same as my legs or arms or heart. Without it, I no longer knew who I was.
Granted, I didn’t know who the hell I was with it, either. I just knew I had to defend it.
“Follow me,” he said.
Without a word, I exited the strange room and as soon as I left, I felt like a weight had been lifted from me and I gasped. It was as if I had been under water and I finally got a breath of fresh air. It didn’t feel that way inside the room, but now that I was out, I knew something had been restraining me.
“It’s the magic in there,” the dean said. “The longer you’re in there, the longer your magic is quelled.”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
“Ten minutes in there will result in no magic for about an hour after you leave the room. You can do the math from there,” he said, not even turning to look back at me.
I felt for my magic, something I’d grown accustomed to doing over my time here at the academy. He was right, it wasn’t there. Not even a shadow of my magic was there. My stomach twisted into knots as panic welled up inside me. I felt empty, different, fragile.
No wonder I didn’t want my magic removed. It was an odd sensation. As if a hole was cut into you and part of your essence was just gone.
I shuddered. Not wanting to think about the possibility of this being my new normal.
We walked through the institutional hallways that made up the underbelly of the school. More white walls, more white tile, more florescent lights. Metal doors lined the hall not unlike the classrooms above but these maintained the hospital like feeling the rest of the detention area held.
Finally, we stopped in front of one of the doors and Dr. Green opened the door. “I’ll collect you here when you’re finished.”
“You’re not coming in with me?” I asked, feeling small. The imposing demon was the last person I’d expected to latch on to but at least he was somewhat familiar.
“I’ll return for you,” he said.
I nodded, then entered the room to find a square table with a folding chair on either side. It was a mother fucking interrogation room. Why the hell did they have this in a school?
Plain white walls surrounded us and I half expected to see a two-way mirror like in the movies. There wasn’t one, but that didn’t mean nobody was listening. I was sure there was magic that could eliminate the need for a human invention like a two-way mirror.
One chair was occupied by a rather severe look woman. She had black hair pulled up into a sleek bun on top of her head. Her features were pointed and sharp. She didn’t stand when I arrived, but I could tell from her stature in the chair that she was tiny. Probably not even five feet tall. “Sit.”
Despite her small size, she packed an air of authority in her demeanor that made me comply.
I took the seat across from her and folded my arms on the table in front of me. My stomach felt like lead and waves of nausea rolled through me. I hadn’t even been this nervous on the night I’d arrived and been stuck in Dr. Green’s office.
“You’re in big trouble, Ms. Winters,” the woman said.
“That’s what they keep telling me,” I said.
She lifted her eyebrows. “You don’t think you’re in trouble?”
“Look.” I set my hand down flat on the table. “I’m new to this whole magic thing. I’m still trying to figure this all out. And there’s not exactly a guide book or list of rules somewhere to help me out.”
“You’re telling me that as a time wielder, you never knew your magic was illegal?” She leaned forward. “I thought for sure that was why you were in hiding.”
“What are you talking about? You can’t hide from something you don’t even know exists.”
“You’re very good,” she said. “I almost believe you. And I almost feel bad.”
“Feel bad for what?” I asked as my heart picked up pace. Something was going on here. Something very, very bad. I scooted the chair back a little, suddenly not wanting to be so close to this tiny woman.
She stood and locked her eyes on me. She was even shorter than I originally thought. Suddenly, she began mumbling words I couldn’t make out and her hair lifted as if drawn away from her head by static electricity. Her eyes glowed blue and tiny bursts of lightning traveled down her arms.
“What the fuck?” I scrambled off the chair so quickly I knocked it over and it clattered to the ground.
“By the sacred service of the hunters, I sentence you to death,” she s
aid.
Instinctively, I tried to summon fire the way I had last time I’d been threatened. Nothing happened. Of course nothing happened. The stupid confinement room had drained everything.
I backed toward the wall as the woman moved closer to me. “I promise I won’t do it again.”
“I can’t afford to have you ruining my plans.” Her voice came out fuzzy and crackling with electricity. She was like a storm in the flesh.
My hair stood on end, rising from my arms and floating around my head. The whole room felt like it was charged and ready to explode. This was not how I imagined I’d die. A surge of fear spiked through me, sending my adrenaline into overdrive and I felt a sudden burst of energy. Not today.
I shifted to the side of the room, moving out of her path.
The woman’s eyes turned to me and she adjusted her position, moving toward me with slow purpose. “You’re only delaying the inevitable. I killed your parents and I’ll kill you, too.”
“You’re insane. My parents died in a car accident.” I moved again, into the corner, slowly sidestepping toward the door.
“That’s what they told that mundane aunt of yours. I wasn’t sure you’d survived until I felt the surge of your magic. It’s a shame that your bloodline must end.”
This woman was bat shit crazy. And apparently, she was also a mass murderer. I inched toward the door, getting closer with every step. She wasn’t in a hurry to kill me, apparently as she continued to move toward me with her slow, careful steps. I wondered if it was taking all of her energy to channel the lightning that was now encasing her whole body. She was like a walking science experiment. A woman trapped in a ball of unstable electricity. I had a feeling it wouldn’t end well for me if the two of us made contact. Especially while my magic was absent.
I was finally at the door and slowly I moved my hand to the doorknob and turned. To my surprise, the door opened a crack. I threw it open and took a breath of freedom before a jolt shot through me sending pain into every part of my body. I fell to the ground, screaming.
The stranger was looking down on me now, a wicked smile on her lips. “You thought you could flee? Your parents were the most powerful mages in a century and I bested them. You’re untrained with untamed magic. You don’t stand a chance.”
Blackness blurred around the edges of my vision and my breathing was ragged and difficult. Everything hurt. I tried to move, but I wasn’t able to control my limbs. I turned my head to the side and realized I was partially in the hallway. I’d been so close to freedom.
I screamed as bursts of sharp pain circled my ankles and I was dragged back into the room. I heard the door slam behind me. Fighting to gain control of my body, I gritted my teeth and tried to move. Nothing happened.
Tears rolled down my cheeks. I wasn’t ready to die. Especially not by a monster that had just confessed that she had killed my parents. Heat surged through my chest, fueled by anger. I embraced it, willing it to grow. I was not going to die lying down. I was not going to die by a madwoman’s magic. I had to live.
24
Ben
Professor Luna droned on and on until the words were just a hum of noise inside my head. Usually, I was interested in the hunting and survival techniques we learned about in class, but today I couldn’t focus. All I could think of was Raven’s long hair, her soft skin, her warm mouth…
My wolf let out a low growl that vibrated deep in my chest. He wanted her too. Somehow, I was going to have to convince her I wasn’t an asshole. I didn’t know anything about romance or how to woo a woman. They usually came to me, we had our fun, and we went our separate ways. Sex wasn’t a big deal. It was stress relief, a way to pass the time. But Raven, she wasn’t a way to pass the time. She was the one I wanted to spend all my time with.
Suddenly, a scream broke through the room. Shrill and laced with pure fear. It shot right through me, sending a jolt of terror deep into my soul. My wolf prickled inside me, poised for an attack.
I jumped up and looked around, trying to find the source of the sound.
The class looked at me, confusion painted on their expressions.
“Nobody else heard that?” I asked.
“Mr. Lucia, please have a seat,” Professor Luna said.
I tensed, my whole body on alert. “I heard a scream.”
Suddenly, another scream broke through the silence, vibrating within me. I watched the unchanged expression on my professor’s face. He really couldn’t hear it.
My chest tightened as realization snapped into place. The scream was meant for me. Raven was in trouble. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”
I knocked over my chair in my rush out of the room but didn’t stop to pick it up. Running at full pace, I exploded out of the door, hitting the hallway at a sprint.
My wolf howled in anger as he clawed at my insides. With every step, I could feel Raven’s pain, her fear. I pushed harder, pumping my arms. When my wolf fought to break free, I didn’t resist.
I ran on all fours, my wolf leading the way toward Raven, following her scent and the pull of her fear. The hallway flew by in a blur and I didn’t let thinking get in the way of the turns and twists my wolf made. We were sometimes at odds, but not when it came to her. Raven called to both of us and if I had any hope of getting to her in time, I had to give in to my wolf.
In my wolf form, my ears prickled as another scream broke through the silence of the halls. I wasn’t sure if I was hearing her for real or through the bond we held. I didn’t really care as long as I could find her.
Lifting my nose into the air, I sniffed, searching for any traces of her scent. My fur stood on end when I caught it and I lunged down the hall. Everything passed in a blur as I wound down stairs and through hallways toward my mate.
I couldn’t hear her anymore and the silence was more painful than listening to her scream. At least if she was screaming, I knew she was alive. The silence was deafening.
A coppery scent filled my nose. Blood. Raven’s blood. It didn’t matter how I knew but I did. Baring my teeth, I growled as I charged toward the scent.
As I turned the corner, I caught sight of an open door and Raven on the ground. A woman I didn’t recognize was standing over her.
I charged.
The stranger hit me with a bolt of electricity that sizzled through me, sending me flying backward away from Raven. I landed hard on the ground, smacking my head on the tile floor. Stunned, I stood up on shaky legs. The blast had sent my wolf away somehow. That shouldn’t be possible. What magic was she using?
The room swayed or maybe I did. But I wasn’t about to quit on her. “Leave her alone.”
“My fight is not with you, shifter,” the woman said.
“A fight with my mate is a fight with me,” I said.
The woman’s brow furrowed. “Foolish child, you don’t understand what you’re saying. You hit your head too hard.”
I growled, clenching my hands into fists. She could say all she wanted, but it didn’t excuse the fact that she’d tried to hurt Raven. For that, she was going to die.
I ran toward her, emitting a war cry as I charged her.
Blue sparks flashed across my vision before they hit me. I screamed in agony. It felt like every nerve was on fire. Panting, I fought against the onslaught. She wasn’t going to bring me down. I could fight her.
My knees gave, and I fell to the ground. The edges of my vision went black, and I struggled to remain upright. “Run, Raven.” I wasn’t sure if I said the words aloud or if they were in my head.
Then, everything went still, the blue sparks hitting my chest were frozen in place. No, not frozen, they moved slightly just as I was moving slightly. I could think and feel, but I couldn’t make myself move.
In a blink of an eye, I hit the ground, the blue sparks gone.
25
Raven
Her attention was on Ben instead of me. Using all of my strength, I tried to call to him, to tell him to flee, but I couldn’t make words form.
<
br /> Desperate, I rolled to my stomach and pushed myself up. Anger seethed in my gut, swirling and twisting like an old friend. I welcomed it, called to it, encouraged it. The feeling bloomed into my chest, filling me with throbbing power unlike anything I had ever felt before. It came as a comfort and it came with a request. It wanted to be unleashed.
The crazy mage ignited her sparks and Ben fell to his knees.
“No!” The energy swirling in me propelled me to my feet, moving me forward, beckoning me. Extending my arms, I released it, aiming the full force of it at Ben’s attacker.
Once again, time slowed to a near stop.
But there was something else happening this time.
I could feel a sense of control I hadn’t last time. Something had shifted. Lifting my hand into the air, I imagined controlling the other mage. Turning her so her vile blue lightning struck the wall instead of Ben.
Her body shifted, turning as if she were a pawn on a chess board, moving to my will.
The dark, swirling anger inside jumped a little, thrilled by the new discovery. But it wasn’t enough.
Imagining I was holding a pop can, I closed my hand, as if to crush it with the motion. The mage crumpled to the ground, her lightening cut off by my action. She was helpless now. She couldn’t hurt anyone anymore.
Dizzy, I let up on the magic, letting go of the power as I leaned against a wall. I squinted toward Ben, who was starting to move on the floor. He was okay.
Letting out a strained breath, I slid down the wall until I was on the cold ground. Ben scrambled toward the fallen mage and pressed his fingers to her neck. He looked up at me. “She’s got a pulse.”
“What happened?” Dr. Green was in the hallway, taking in the aftermath with wide eyes.
“She attacked us,” I said.
Academy of the Elites: Untamed Magic Page 11