“Why do I get the feeling this is the old Warden Mappleworth talking?”
His voice softened. “Just because I don’t do the job anymore doesn’t mean I don’t believe in what the AMF does.”
The troll started to recover from its head injury.
“What do you say, Morrow?” Gray asked, nodding toward the troll. “This would really impress Armitage.”
“I have no interest in impressing that guy,” I said. I also couldn’t bring myself to kill the troll. It seemed cruel, even knowing the kind of monster it was.
“Okay then,” Gray said. “You may want to close your eyes. Things are about to get messy.”
I did as instructed. If Gray was going to go full vampire on the tunnel troll, I didn’t want to witness it. I sank against the wall and tried to ignore the sounds of thrashing and guttural cries.
“I could use a little earth magic, if you can spare it,” Gray said.
Hesitantly, I opened my eyes. The troll was on the ground, with Gray standing beside him.
“If we bury him in enough rocks,” Gray said, “that should keep him subdued should anyone wander past.”
I glanced at the troll. “He’s alive?”
“Unconscious,” Gray said.
“Because of me?” I asked.
“I figured there’s no need to scar you for life,” Gray said. “There’ll be plenty of time for that.”
My spirits lifted. I didn’t know why it pleased me so much that Gray didn’t kill the troll because of me, but it did.
“I think I can do better than bury him in rocks,” I said.
Gray stepped away from the troll with a flourish. “I leave the big fella in your capable hands.”
I called to the earth around me—the rocks, the ground below, and the large boulders that formed the tunnel. Then I focused inward, teasing out my magic. My muscles shook as I wrapped the ground around the troll, nestling it in an earthen cocoon. I left the troll’s head exposed so that it could breathe.
He nodded his approval. “It’s still a death sentence, you know.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But there’s a chance. No matter what, it won’t be able to hurt anyone who passes by.”
“It’s a fair compromise,” Gray said. “Let’s go. We still have ground to cover.”
We traveled through a maze of tunnels—the remainder was thankfully devoid of creatures—until we reached a hole the size of a large sewer pipe. Gray ushered me through. The pipe spat me out into what appeared to be some kind of cave. Once Gray was through, I turned to the opening with my wand.
“You can put the wand away now, Morrow. It’s well lit from here.”
“I just want to seal the entrance,” I said.
“What? No!”
“What if the troll gets loose and tracks us here?” I didn’t want to risk exposing humans to that kind of danger. They wouldn’t be able to defend themselves against a creature like that. I could only imagine the kind of carnage it would inflict before someone could stop it.
“Then the League will deal with it,” he said. The League of Local Paranormals was the agency tasked with responding to magical acts in the human world. They generally worked in teams of three, with two shifters and a magic user.
“They might arrive too late,” I said. “I’m the one who insisted we leave the troll alive. Now I need to make sure it can’t follow us here.”
“Bryn, there are rules in place for a reason,” Gray said. “You can’t…”
Too late. I gathered my will and the magic swelled, threatening to spill over. I fought to control it, not wanting to create an avalanche. I broke into a sweat as I shifted rocks into a pile and began to fuse them together to form a solid wall. Whereas water magic came easily to me, I had to work harder to perform earth magic. I could do it, but it was a strain.
“That’s enough,” Gray advised, glancing furtively over his shoulder. “You don’t want to use too much magic on the Terrene side, or the League will be after us.”
I knew he was right. It was how I ended up at the academy in the first place. I’d almost gotten up close and personal with three League shifters before Chancellor Tilkin’s intervention on the bridge in New Hope.
“Okay, I’m almost done.” I focused on the smooth layer of earth that now separated us from the tunnels, checking for weaknesses. “All good.”
He looked dismayed. “You’d better hope so.”
5
Gray guided me through the cave until it narrowed to the point where we had to crouch down. We crawled the final leg until Gray reached a hatch.
“It’s a fair drop down,” he cautioned. “I’ll stand below in case I need to cushion your landing.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I said. Inwardly, I worried exactly how far of a drop he meant. I wasn’t as limber and gravity resistant as he was.
He disappeared through the hole and I scurried to the hatch to get a glimpse of the next step. I swallowed hard when I saw the distance to the floor. It was easily twenty feet.
“Come on, Morrow,” he urged. “I’m right here. It’ll be fine.”
I took a deep, steadying breath and slid through the opening. My stomach lurched as I dropped, and I tried not to let my nerves get the better of me. Relief washed over me when I felt Gray’s arms around me. He managed to catch me before my feet hit the ground and softened my landing.
“Thanks,” I said breathlessly.
“Calm that heart of yours, Morrow,” he said. “It’s distracting.”
“I can’t help it if you’re hypersensitive to heartbeats,” I said. “Maybe there’s something you can take for that.”
He shot me an amused look. “You think I should take a potion because you can’t keep your heart from pounding like a jackhammer?”
“I just fell twenty feet,” I argued, looking up. Good thing I plugged the hole to the tunnels because there was no way I’d be able to reach the hatch from here.
“And you lived to tell the tale. Congratulations.”
I examined our surroundings. “Where are we?” Judging from the noise and heat, it was some kind of boiler room.
“You’ll see,” he said. “Follow me.” He slithered into an empty passageway and gestured me forward.
“I smell burgers,” I said. And French fries. Cured meats. Delicious stinky cheeses. My stomach reacted with its usual grumble of dissatisfaction. “You be quiet,” I scolded. “The dining hall breakfast was excellent and very filling.”
My body had no business acting hungry. I was very spoiled at Spellslingers when it came to mealtime.
Gray pushed through a metal door and we entered an indoor food market. “We can stop at a stall on the way back if your needs are that dire,” he said.
“Is there any point in coming back this way?” I queried. “Don’t we need to take a different route home?”
“We can still swing past here,” Gray said. “I know all the connecting doors to the tunnels in this region. There are two others within a twenty-mile radius.”
I stopped in front of a stall with oversized cookies. “Are you sure trolls don’t make their way through here, because those cookies look far too large for human consumption?”
Gray eyed me. “But you want one, don’t you?”
Why deny it? “The stomach wants what the stomach wants.” I pointed. “Plus, that one has peanut butter in it.” I loved peanut butter. One of the food groups—yes, food groups—I missed in the paranormal world.
“I’m sure we have time for one cookie,” Gray said. His gaze shifted over my shoulder and his grin faded. “I spoke too soon.”
I didn’t like his concerned expression. “Gray?”
“We need to move,” he said tersely. He began walking in the opposite direction at a brisk pace. “Stay beside me and don’t turn around.”
I hustled to keep step with him. “What is it?”
“The League, and they seem intent on finding someone.” Although he didn’t say the words, I knew what h
e was thinking.
“This is because of what I did, isn’t it?”
“Your magic is some kind of beacon or homing device,” he grumbled.
“Werewolves?” I asked.
“Two shifters, and a genie,” Gray said, staring straight ahead.
“Isn’t the genie obvious with that tornado butt?”
He looked at me askance. “Tornado butt? They take a completely human form here and their magic is strong.”
“I thought we weren’t supposed to use magic here,” I said. “Isn’t that why they’re trying to sniff us out now?”
“The League has special dispensation when the situation calls for it. They have to be careful, of course, but if they feel that magic is required to apprehend us, for example, they’re permitted to use it.”
Ugh. Great. “That doesn’t seem fair.”
“It’s meant to be a last resort and they’re supposed to use magic in a way that doesn’t upset the balance here,” he explained. “But you get League officers that cross the line on occasion, same as anywhere else.”
We hurried past another row of stalls—these were filled with boxes of truffles and other chocolates.
“You’re killing me, Gray,” I said, as we whooshed past every mouth-watering square.
He skidded to a halt and I stopped alongside him. I didn’t need to ask why. Up ahead, I spotted a man and a woman. They seemed out of place somehow, though I couldn’t identify the reason. Their clothes and hair were appropriate enough, but there was some other quality that made them stand out to me.
“The shifters?” I asked under my breath. Gray nodded.
I craned my neck to see another man behind us—the genie. They were attempting to box us in.
“What’s the plan?” I asked.
Gray slowly turned to look over his shoulder. “I’m going to need you to use a short burst of magic.”
“What?” My hands flew to my hips. “After all your lecturing…”
“The genie is setting up a glamour,” Gray said quietly.
“What does that mean?”
His cheek twitched. “It means they plan to take us by force, if necessary, and they’re using magic to make sure that none of the humans in the food market see any of it.”
Well, that didn’t sound good. “What kind of magic should I do?”
“Whatever can get us out of here with minimal damage and disruption to the humans,” he said.
“Shouldn’t that be the League’s goal?” I asked. The genie was using his hands to conjure--something. I didn’t want to wait to find out what.
“Apparently, they’ve deemed us too big of threat and they don’t want to take any chances,” Gray said. “Wait until they’ve set up the glamour, and then blast them.”
“Why wait?”
“Let them do the heavy lifting,” he said. “I’m assuming you can’t do a cloaking spell to hide us?”
“No, the academy doesn’t let us do them until fourth year,” I said. “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
“Then do whatever comes naturally.”
That was easy. There were plenty of water sources nearby. I sensed them all. I called to the water before turning inward and tapping into the magic.
When the shifters advanced, that was our cue.
“Do it now,” Gray barked.
I released a powerful jet stream at the shifters, knocking them off their feet. “Looks like a busted water pipe, right?” As I whipped around to deal with the genie, I realized that Gray was already there, with the genie in a chokehold. The genie couldn’t breathe, which meant he couldn’t speak and spell.
“I don’t want to kill him,” Gray said, struggling to maintain exactly the right amount of pressure. “Can you incapacitate him?”
“Can’t you?”
“This is your chance to learn,” he said. “Come on, quick. Those shifters will be up any second.”
“I don’t know what to do,” I said.
“You can do air magic, right? Deprive him of oxygen. Enough to knock him out.”
The genie’s eyes popped. He clearly wasn’t a fan of that idea.
I was still a little drained from the earlier earth magic, but I gathered the strength I had left to extract the air from the genie’s lungs. It was a fine line, and I hoped for the best when the genie’s body collapsed. Gray stepped over him and sprinted, grabbing my hand as he passed me.
We bolted down the aisles of the food market until we spotted an exit. I didn’t dare look over my shoulder and risk losing momentum. We burst through the door and ran outside and down the block, our feet pounding the pavement. A motorcycle pulled curbside and Gray seized the opportunity. As the man removed his helmet, Gray pounced.
“We need this motorcycle for an emergency,” the vampire said, staring at the man with his penetrating gaze.
The man blinked. “Of course.” He handed the keys to Gray without objection.
“I’ll bring the bike back to this very spot when we’re finished. Do you understand?”
“Yes, no problem,” the man said. He seemed to be in some kind of trance.
“Go about your day and forget you saw us.” Gray released the man and he walked off in a daze.
“Thank you,” I called after him.
Gray hopped on the motorcycle. “Let’s go, Morrow. No time for pleasantries.”
I jumped on the seat behind him. “There’s always time for manners.”
We zoomed down the street, away from the scene. I held tight to Gray’s waist and tried to keep my impure thoughts buried as my chest pressed against his back. If he was affected by our closeness in any way, he didn’t show it. He was probably used to having women clinging to him, whereas I’d never even hugged a man before. Never even had a crush on a guy, except actors on the screen. There was a chef at one of the restaurants where I’d worked who’d shown an interest in me, but I’d moved again before he summoned his nerve to ask me out. It had been for the best, though. Eventually, I would’ve left him without a word anyway. That had been my life…until Spellslingers.
We traveled up Route 1 and turned off somewhere near Nassau Street. Gray zipped up and down the side streets until we reached a neighborhood of sprawling mansions. Each house seemed bigger than the last, with more impressive vehicles in the driveway. It wouldn’t have surprised me to see a helipad.
Gray slowed the motorcycle to a stop.
“Are we here?” I asked, checking the nearby mailboxes for the house number.
“It’s further up the block,” he said. “I just didn’t want to park the bike too close.”
“Are we really going to return the bike to the owner, or were you just making him feel better?” I asked.
“Why would I say something just to make him feel better?” Gray looked at me like I had two heads.
“Um, it’s called compassion,” I mumbled.
“I told him the truth,” Gray said. “I’m not a thief.”
“That thing you did,” I began, “was that some kind of mind control?”
“I compelled him,” he said.
I snapped my fingers. “I knew there was a word for it.” I’d seen it on television and in movies, but I wasn’t sure if it was a real thing. “Can all vampires do that?”
“Can all people carry a tune?” he asked.
“Definitely not,” I said.
“There’s your answer,” he said.
I frowned. “You’re saying not all vampires have the same skills?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. It’s the same as witches. You and your friends can’t do all the same spells, right? There are different areas where you excel, versus your friends.”
“True.”
“And some humans are good at sports, whereas others are good at math.”
“Or both,” I said. “Let’s not perpetuate any stereotypes.”
A grin tugged at his lips. “Wouldn’t dream of it. Anyway, my point is that vampires have different skills, same as any other
group. I trained at the Sentinel, and we learned how to do a lot of things that your average vampire can’t do, which is a good thing. Believe me.”
I folded my arms. “Tell the truth. Are you a self-loathing vampire?”
“Not at all, but I’ve met the average vampire many times, and you don’t want them running around the world with too much power.”
“I don’t think we want anyone running around the world with too much power.”
“Fair point.”
“I’m sorry I got the League’s attention,” I said. “I should’ve listened to you.”
Gray appeared sympathetic. “I understand why you wanted to seal the entrance. I just prefer to stay off the League’s radar. It’s not the most vampire-friendly organization.”
“What do you mean?”
“The League has a reputation for targeting vampires, mostly because it’s run primarily by shifters,” he said.
“How do they target you?”
He shrugged. “Terrene is the League’s territory. Any chance they have to give us a hard time in the human world, they take it. There’s an expression. WWV—Walking While Vampire. It’s not so bad in this quadrant. Their reputation is worse in some of the others.”
“But you’re one of the good ones,” I said. “You were a warden.”
“Was being the optimum word,” he said. “When you used to be on the right side of the law, and now you live in the shadows, it tends to raise their suspicions.”
“But you had a good reason,” I said. “Your partner died.”
He balled his fists. “You don’t need to tell me the reason, Morrow. I’m well aware.”
“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be bring up painful memories.” The gods knew I had enough of my own.
“I know you weren’t.” He relaxed. “Like I said, I prefer to avoid the League. It’s one of the reasons I try not to take jobs that bring me to Terrene. It’s not worth the risk.”
“Then why come with me?” I asked. “You didn’t need to do that.”
He bristled. “I know I didn’t need to. You said you wanted help, so I helped.”
My emotions stirred. “Are you always so accommodating when someone asks for your help?”
Outclassed: Spellslingers Academy of Magic (Warden of the West Book 2) Page 4