I glanced up at him. I dare you to say that ten times fast.
Nobody wants that, Icarus replied.
Just because I won't trigger any alarms by using my magic here doesn't mean I'm willing to do it, I said. I have to be careful.
My familiar stared at me with his round yellow eyes. It's important for you to develop your skills. You can't be afraid to use your magic. That's the whole point of being here.
"Now you sound like the chancellor,” I said. "The whole point of me being here is to feel safe and have a roof over my head." And friends. Others who would notice if I were the one who’d disappeared.
All I'm saying is that you’re more likely to use your magic wisely if you learn from others who do the same. Your father refused training and look where that got him.
“I’ll do enough to keep Armitage off my back, but I still think it’s best to keep a lid on my magic.”
You know what happens to a bubbling cauldron with a lid, don’t you?
I ignored Icarus and moved to the water’s edge to call to the river. Magic rushed through my body in response. Icarus and the chancellor were wrong. Every time I used magic, I increased the chance of succumbing to its power. I risked becoming the next Shadow Sorcerer.
With the wave of my hand, the water parted as easily as though I’d sliced through it with a butter knife. Icarus flew to join me in the basin.
A few treats for me, he said, but I didn't bother to see what he deemed edible. I was too busy searching for clues. Although parting the water was easy, it was harder to keep the two sides at bay while I hunted. It took a massive amount of concentration.
"Lovely day for a swim, isn't it, Morrow?"
My head jerked up to the riverbank. Theo Armitage stood there with his hands on his hips, flanked by three trainees. One I recognized as Gladiola Godfrey, the fourth-year newspaper reporter.
"My familiar likes to scavenge the riverbed," I lied.
"And you happened to choose the exact place where the victim's body was found," Armitage said. "How interesting."
I gave him a look of mock innocence. "Was that here? I was sure it was a good twenty feet upstream." Sweat pebbled on my forehead. I couldn't keep the water divided much longer. Time to move, I told Icarus. I scrambled up the bank just as the water rushed in.
“What are you doing here?" I asked. “Haven’t you already combed this area thoroughly?”
"I conducted my original search alone," he said. "I decided to bring back my training team to show them what I did. I only choose the best and brightest to shadow me. On my right is Carson Caldecott. He excels in defensive spells and is on track to become a warden, Class A.”
“Well done, Carson,” I said.
"This is Fiona Blatherwick,” he continued. “She’s been tapped to join Class C.”
“I’m so excited,” Fiona said. “Class C has been my lifelong dream.”
I frowned. “Preventing the next apocalypse has been your dream since childhood?”
“My mom says I used to pretend to destroy rituals at the last minute,” she said. “I’d put my dolls in a protective circle and then practice breaking through it.”
And here I thought my childhood had been unusual.
"What about you, Gladiola?” I asked.
Armitage cast a dismissive look over his shoulder. "She's a busybody. She's really here for the story, not the investigation."
Gladiola appeared hurt. "I have specialties, too.”
"Meeting weekly deadlines can hardly be considered a specialty," Armitage said, and the other two team members laughed.
Gladiola’s cheeks turned bright pink. "I often have to use spells in relation to my work. Do you think it’s easy to get paranormals to talk to you? That's a skill in and of itself.”
"I agree with that," Armitage said. "It's an important skill for a warden, too."
"Yes, but you flash a badge and others talk to you willingly," Gladiola countered. "I don't have that luxury. I have to resort to all kinds of tricks to get answers. Just last week I had to glamour myself to look like Mr. Tipperary to get someone to talk to me about a stupid museum artifact. Wouldn’t give me the time of day as Gladiola, but I glamoured myself to look like a crotchety old vampire and, suddenly, I’m golden.”
Armitage’s features flashed with annoyance. "If you think all I need to do is flash a badge to do my job, I'm glad you’re shadowing me now because you have an awful lot to learn."
Gladiola looked ready to drown herself in the river. "That's not what I meant, sir."
"Then perhaps you should put a little more thought into your words," he replied stiffly. "I would think that would be easy for you, being a journalist and all."
“And what’s your special talent, Warden Armitage?” I asked. Aside from being a Class A jackass.
He appeared amused. “How much time do you have?”
Ugh.
“Even you've got some hidden talents there, Morrow," Armitage said. "Not enough of them to outdo me in an investigation, but decent for a first year with no formal training.”
“Is that your plan for your team?” I queried. “Outdo them in the investigation?”
“That's how you learn, Morrow, by observing those who are better than you. You might do well to remember that.”
I wanted to smack that smug look off his face. Instead, I kept my hands busy by dusting the dirt off my knees. “I don't know, sensei. Sometimes I think it's best to forge a path that hasn't been tread by amateur shoes.”
Above me, Icarus groaned softly. Please don't bait him.
I can't help it, I said. He's awful.
Armitage crossed his arms. "I'll tell you what, Morrow. I'll make you a deal. If you think you’re so clever, I'd love to see you extract that magical thumb of yours out of your ass and put it to good use. I'll let you play whatever game you want here. If you catch the killer before I do, I'll clean out the hellhound enclosure for a week. How's that grab you?”
Don’t do it, Icarus advised.
My eyes locked with the cocky warden’s. ”I’ll do it.”
I was almost back to the residence hall when I saw my roommates clustered in a small circle near the docks at Mercer Lake.
“Willow, be nice,” Mia scolded.
I realized that Icarus had beaten me there, and was perched on the edge of a bench. “Hey, what’s going on?”
The girls looked equally apologetic.
“Our familiars aren’t being as welcoming to Icarus as we’d like,” Dani said. “Clementine has a bit of a mean girl streak.”
Three cats stared haughtily at my snowy owl.
“We’re working on it, aren’t we?” Cerys said, glaring at the three felines.
“Transitions can be difficult,” Mia added.
Did they do something to you already? I asked Icarus. He couldn’t have been here more than two minutes. Granted, I hadn’t exactly hurried back from the forest. I was too busy running through all the things I wish I’d said to Armitage instead of ‘I’ll do it.’
Won’t let me join in any of their reindeer games, he replied. It’s no big deal.
Of course, it’s a big deal, I said. We both need to be comfortable here, not just me.
Icarus appeared contrite. They may not be entirely to blame.
I tried not to overreact. Why? What did you do?
“Haggis is sorry,” Cerys said. “It won’t happen again.”
I may have taunted them with a few morsels I grabbed on my way out of the forest, Icarus said. I’m not accustomed to sharing! It’s been just the two of us for the past four years.
He wasn’t wrong.
“Clementine is sorry, too,” Dani said. “She didn’t mean to take a swipe at Icarus.”
“And Willow didn’t mean to pin him down,” Mia said. She glanced warily at the cat. “Well, she meant to do it, but she’s sorry.”
Tell them I didn’t mean to swoop down in attack mode, Icarus said.
“You what?” I exclaimed, gaping at my fa
miliar.
“It’s okay, Bryn,” Cerys said. “They deserved it. He needed to assert himself.”
“Not if he was taunting them,” I replied. I didn’t need this layer of stress on top of everything else. “Icarus swears he will never use attack mode against them ever again, or he will suffer the consequences.”
And what might those be? Icarus asked. You singing all the songs from Mamma Mia!?”
“Hey! That’s not a punishment,” I said hotly.
Depends on whether you’re the mouth or the ear in that scenario, Icarus said.
“Clementine says it’s time for their combat class,” Dani said.
“Combat class?” I echoed. “The familiars learn combat?” And why was this the first I was hearing about it?
“It’s not every week,” Mia said. “It’s to help them learn how to handle themselves in an emergency situation. Like if we’re attacked and they’re with us.”
“I don’t like the idea of our familiars in a dangerous situation,” Cerys said. “They’re meant to be companions and spiritual guides, not warriors.”
“Yes, but we’re training to be AMF agents, not shopkeepers,” Dani said. “Danger comes with the territory.”
“But our familiars didn’t sign up for that,” Cerys said.
“I didn’t sign up to be part of a family full of Sentries of the South,” Dani said, “but I learned pretty quickly what it meant. My grandmother taught me defensive tactics at a very early age. She knew I could be a target. My parents didn’t agree. They wanted to teach me herbology and mixology, but that was the extent of it.”
“Your grandmother sounds like a smart witch,” I said.
Dani’s expression tensed. “She recognized the reality of the situation and acted accordingly.”
“When you say an early age, how early are we talking?” I asked.
“I couldn’t say for sure, but I remember holding my first wand when I was three.” Dani smiled at the memory.
My other roommates gasped. Apparently, this information was news to them.
“Three?” Mia was incredulous. “I don’t even think I was speaking full sentences at three.”
“No wonder you’re so confident,” I said to Dani. “You’ve been doing this stuff your whole life. When I was three…” I stopped. I had no memory of that age. One of my earliest memories was parting the reservoir waters when I was four and had accidentally fallen in. It was after that incident that my mother had tried to find out more about my magic.
“What happened when you were three?” Cerys asked.
I shook my head and laughed. “I don’t remember. We moved so often. All the people and places are a blur.”
“Why did you move all the time?” Mia asked.
“Don’t you remember?” Dani said. “Her mother’s job. She was a travel doctor.”
“She was a locum tenens physician,” I clarified. It was hard not to tell them the truth about my childhood, but it was for their sake as much as mine. I didn’t want to burden my friends with such an incredible secret. It wouldn’t be fair.
“We should be getting back,” Mia said. “I have a pile of homework.”
“Me, too,” Cerys said. “Professor Langley seems to take joy in overdoing our assignments.”
“Professor Langley probably takes joy in performing autopsies,” I said.
Now there’s an image, Icarus said.
“I’ll meet you back at the room,” I told my roommates. “Icarus needs more fresh air.”
Don’t use me as an excuse, Icarus said, flying overhead as I walked along the lake path. I needed the water nearby to revive me. I felt drained from holding the water back at the river. My body still wasn’t accustomed to using magic regularly.
Why not? I said. You may as well be good for something besides fighting with the other familiars.
That’s rude and patently untrue, he said. I’m good for plenty of things.
Name one, I said. In reality, I could have named twenty ways Icarus was useful. He’d saved my hide more times than I could count, but it was fun to give him a hard time on occasion.
When he didn’t respond, I glanced skyward. “Icarus?”
The bushes around me crackled softly.
“Icarus?” I called again.
In that moment, everything went black.
9
When I finally came round, I immediately recognized my surroundings. Sunlight streamed through the glass walls of the tasteful sunroom in Harrington House.
“Excellent, you’re awake.” Anton Harrington flashed a smile, showing his fangs. He was nestled in the window seat with a book.
“I see you’ve moved on to New Moon,” I said. Last time I was here, the vampire was enthralled by Twilight.
He wagged a finger. “No spoilers.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I’d first met Anton when Gray and I attended an auction here in search of a magical sword.
“I’ve taken the liberty of sending for a cup of tea and a bottle of bubbly. I wasn’t sure which you’d be in the mood for when you regained consciousness.” He tapped his finger against his chin. “Tea really is more appropriate for a post-blackout drink, isn’t it? Alcohol is more conducive to pre-blackout.”
“Tea, please. I assume you’ll set me free to drink it.” I inclined my head toward my arms, which were securely fastened behind my back.
The vampire moved from the window seat with the grace of a jungle cat. “You can understand my reticence to have your hands free, can’t you? Such sticky fingers you have.”
And, with that single comment, I knew the reason I was here.
It was during the auction that I first became aware of my father’s healing stones, and it was from this very sunroom that I’d stolen the red one that was now safely stowed in my drawer at the academy.
“I totally understand. If you release me, I’ll run straight to the bathroom and wash them,” I said.
He appeared mildly amused as he approached me. “Where’s the healing stone?”
“Which one?” I asked. “There are so many. My roommate has a whole collection.” That much was true. Cerys hadn’t met a stone yet that she didn’t adopt.
Anton leaned forward, his face inches from mine. “I like games as much as the next vampire, my sweet, but I promise you won’t want to play what I have in mind.”
I maintained a neutral expression and tried to keep my heartbeat from betraying me. “The stone is in a safe place.”
He straightened, seemingly pleased that I’d answered truthfully. “It took me a bit of time to figure it out, of course. I knew Mr. Mappleworth had no reason to take it. Theft isn’t his style. As much as he lingers on the fringes of society these days, he’s still the upstanding vampire everyone knew from his warden days. A pity his family is so rigid in their expectations.”
Anton’s diatribe was cut off by the appearance of Edwards, his trusted servant.
“Hey, Edwards,” I said. “I’d wave, but I’m a little tied up.”
“Miss Morrow, a pleasure to see you again.” He bowed his head and set the tray on a nearby antique table. “I brought a selection of herbal and black teas. The bubbly isn’t quite the right temperature for serving.”
“That’s okay. Did you bring milk and sugar?” I queried.
“Naturally, he did,” Anton replied. “We’re not heathens.” He glanced at his servant. “That will be all for now, Edwards. See that we’re not disturbed. Miss Morrow and I have business to discuss.”
“Yes, of course, sir.” Edwards left the sunroom without sparing me another glance. And here I thought I’d made a friend.
“I’m going to free you now,” Anton said. “Any sudden moves, and you won’t make it out of this house alive. Do you understand?”
I nodded. “I speak vampire threats fluently.”
He laughed. “I imagine so, with the company you keep.” He unfastened whatever magical rope had bound my wrists. “How is dear Mr. Mappleworth?”
“He�
��s fine,” I said. “Thank you for asking.”
“Are you two still teaming up for unsanctioned shenanigans?”
“I don’t classify a murder investigation as shenanigans,” I said, “but I can see how you might.”
His smile faded. “I don’t know what kind of creature you take me for, Miss Morrow. If I were the monster you’ve just implied, you’d already be drained of blood, and I’d have my healing stone back on display.”
He poured my tea and handed me the cup.
“Thank you,” I said. I took a hesitant sip, wondering whether he’d added anything funky. Like blood.
“Tell me, Miss Morrow. I’m fascinated. Why did you take the stone if you didn’t intend to sell it?” He poured himself a cup of tea and lifted the cup to his lips. “I even bet Edwards a day off that the stone would no longer be in your possession.”
Well, at least my theft resulted in a vacation day for Edwards. I had no doubt he deserved one.
“I thought a healing stone might come in handy at the academy,” I said.
Anton sipped his tea. “I’m sure it would, but, as your roommate has an entire collection, why risk stealing one of mine?”
I shrugged. “Yours was better. It was owned by that famous guy.”
His lips twitched. “Ah, yes. Volans Moldark. More infamous than famous. It’s worth a small fortune.”
“Why didn’t you sell it with the rest of his collection? You seem to be a fan of money.” The rest of my father’s healing stones had been sold to a wealthy ogre named Martha, a friend of the Mappleworth family.
“Because, as you may recall from the contents of my vault, I have a taste for rare objects.”
I had a vivid recollection of his vault—an entire floor of valuable antiquities—and a ghostly warrior called a spriggan to defend it all.
“And the healing stone is rare?”
“That stone in your possession holds some of Moldark’s blood,” Anton said, and I nearly sprayed my mouthful of tea across the sunroom.
“Is that why it’s red?” I asked.
“Indeed.” Anton set his cup and saucer back on the tray. “What do you know of the Shadow Sorcerer?”
I pretended to think. “Very evil. Died during an attempted coup.”
Outclassed: Spellslingers Academy of Magic (Warden of the West Book 2) Page 7