I smiled. It was the first time she’d really seemed to appreciate my admission of guilt. While she’d thanked me, her words always seemed to be followed by comments that I shouldn’t have done it. I wanted her to appreciate what I did. Besides, it wasn’t that big of a deal.
So what if I have to meet with a creepy PO once a week? I’d be out of here by June and I was sure my mom would find a way to end my meetings once I graduated.
“Well, I’d like to have a conversation with Dr. Green about all of this before I leave,” she said.
“I’m not sure what good that will do,” I said. “They’re pretty excited that they get to corner an Obscure.”
“Nobody corners us, ever,” she said. “You played them. And you should be proud of that.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Being part of such a well-connected family meant that we got away with things. Even when we shouldn’t. It was something that used to bother me more. As I got older, I learned that with wealth came certain privileges. It was a matter of telling myself that eventually, I’d have to pay for what I’d been given.
I was hoping Raven could help me with that. Seeing her reaction to the things that were handed to me made me start to question things again. It made me want to be a better person.
My mother set her napkin on her plate and Jenny swooped in to take the dishes away.
“The food was delicious,” Raven said. “Thank you for inviting me. And thank you for the box of memories. It means the world to me.”
“I’m glad you like it dear,” she said, in that false mothering tone she used when she was trying to impress people.
I had to fight not to frown at her. She was my mom, but we’d mostly been raised by the staff at the various houses we were dragged to as kids.
Our father had been more involved in our lives but he passed two years ago. It still hurt.
“I’d like a tour,” my mom announced. “Which of my sons will escort me around the school?”
“It can’t have changed all that much,” I said.
She lifted an eyebrow. “Well then, I think I know who will be giving me that tour.”
I resisted rolling my eyes. She was so dramatic.
“I’ll go with you,” Raven said. “I honestly haven’t seen all of the school yet. Maybe you could give me the tour.”
I glanced at her, surprised. She had to be over my mother just as much as I was but I could tell she was grateful. This was her way of saying thank you. She was such a better person than I was. I didn’t deserve her.
“I’d love to have you along, Raven,” my mother said. “I’m glad to see you were raised with some manners.”
“Why don’t we all go?” Zach said.
“No,” my mother responded quickly. “I’d like some girl talk for a change. I’m surrounded by males all day. It’ll be a nice change.”
I clenched my jaw, trying not to overthink what her intentions were for this private chat with Raven. I was pretty sure this was her plan the whole time.
The woman was crafty.
Well played, mom. Well played.
“Want me to take that to your room for you?” I asked, pointing to the box in Raven’s hand.
“Sure.” She handed it to me, then dug her keycard out of her pocket. “You can leave the key in my room. Ben has a spare.”
The table got very quiet and Raven’s face turned crimson.
“I lost my key once and got a new one. I gave it to him when I found my old one since he’s my neighbor,” she said quickly.
“That makes sense,” I said, trying to help her. We all knew why he had a key. Though it wasn’t like their relationship was a secret.
A flicker of jealousy rose into my chest but I quelled it quickly, reminding myself that this morning, it was my cock inside her. Not Ben’s.
5
Raven
I was surprised that the tour ended up being solo with Ms. Obscura. I had a feeling she was looking for a way to get one on one time with me but I wasn’t sure why.
As we walked down the stairs of the mage dorm, I couldn’t help but notice that she was limping a little. I wondered if she’d had an accident or if she had a health condition. Suddenly, I felt bad for freaking out about her wanting to see her sons married off. Maybe she just wanted to see her kids happy. She was very difficult to get a read on. One minute, she was kind and helpful, the next she seemed to be plotting something. All I knew was that I needed to be careful around her.
“This place always takes me back,” she said as we walked across the main hall. “I had a lot of great memories here. It’s where I met my husband and where I met my best friends, your mother included.”
“It’s a good school,” I said, not sure how to answer her. I liked it much better than being in a shitty apartment without heat. But there was the whole thing with a magic thief trying to kill me.
“It’s more than that,” she said. “It’s a way of life. A network that you establish and will utilize for the rest of your life.”
She led us to the stairs that went up to the fourth floor where the ball had been a couple of weeks ago. I followed her.
“You know, when I first married into the Obscura family, they were about to go under. Most of their businesses were failing and they were nearly bankrupt.”
“Really?” That was surprising based on what I saw of their wealth now.
“They had invested in several human tech companies that were going belly up.” She turned and glanced at me. “Never invest in human businesses. They are short sighted and they rarely plan for the future properly.”
“Good tip, thanks,” I said. Not that I’d ever have the kind of money she’s talking about.
“So I reached out to the connections I’d made as a student here and I scheduled meetings and introduced the Obscuras to some of the other great families.”
We were standing in front of the ballroom now. The double doors were closed. She leaned against them, pushing them open.
The room was missing some of its magic today. It was huge and the shiny wood floor was beautiful, but without the light from the sparkling chandeliers or the chatter of people, it was kind of sad.
“So many memories,” she said.
“I wish my memory of this room was better,” I said.
She turned to me, a frown on her face. “You’ll make a better memory here. They’ll hold a ball for the students who pass the trials. I expect you’ll be there. With both of my sons.”
I tensed, still not sure how to navigate her. “Ms. Obscura, you should know…”
She lifted a hand, stopping me from continuing. “I know. You’ve mated with two others. You haven’t decided if you want to be with my sons. But I’m confident that you will make smart decisions. You’re an intelligent woman. A survivor. Like me. The right choices aren’t always easy. You must be savage in your decisions if you want to succeed. And you have that streak. Even if you don’t see it yet.”
“I don’t know about that,” I said.
“Your mother didn’t have it. She was a hopeless romantic. Ran off with your father, got herself cut off from the family fortune.”
“Wait, what?” I blinked at her, shocked by this revelation. “I thought you said they were dead.”
“Better that my sons didn’t know this part,” she said. “Nobody should know this part.”
What could possibly be so bad that she didn’t want her own children to know?
She took a deep breath and then glanced around the room again before turning her gaze back on me.
“I can’t speak to your father’s side, but your mother’s parents disowned her for marrying your dad. A few years later, they were killed in an accident. They didn’t include your mother in their will.”
“They sound like they were total assholes,” I said without thinking.
She smirked. “They were. I can honestly tell you very few people missed them but there was a lot of drama around their money.”
“People get
weird about money after someone dies,” I said.
She cocked an eyebrow. “Don’t you want to know where it went?”
I shook my head. “Not really. It sounds complicated and like it was a long time ago.”
“You are unusual, Raven,” she said. “I’m glad Dr. Green called me when they brought you to him and I’m happy I can repay my friend’s kindness through you.”
“I really appreciate it,” I said. “I am glad I’m here.”
“So am I,” she said. “Want to see the secret passage I found with your mom?”
I perked up. “That sounds awesome.”
She smiled and started walking across the ballroom. I followed her, watching as she dragged her fingertips along the wallpaper covered wall.
She stopped and turned to look at me. “Right here. See this?”
I looked where she was pointing. There was a tiny star in the floral pattern that wasn’t on the rest of the wall. “How did you find that?”
“We used to study in this room since it’s almost always empty. Practice spells and such. It’s a good space for it. Found it on accident one day and then spent weeks trying to figure out how we opened it.”
She took my hand and moved it over the tiny star. “Here. Press down.”
I did and then I gasped as a door slid open in the wall. “How many people know about this?”
“I doubt anyone here does anymore. Your mom and I never told anyone. Not even your dad. I haven’t even told my sons.”
“How come?” I asked, feeling guilty.
“Well, after what you just went through, I figured it might come in handy for you to have a safe place to hide.”
“I sure hope not,” I said. “I’d really like this semester to be normal.”
“Nothing is ever normal here,” she said, leading the way down a hallway.
The door closed behind us and it suddenly got very dark. My heart raced and suddenly, I worried that I’d walked into some kind of trap. What if this wasn’t even Ms. Obscura? What if the thief wasn’t really dead and she’d transformed into her likeness?
A light flickered on in front of me and I saw a few magical torches light on the wall.
“You coming?” Ms. Obscura was ahead of me now.
I tried to push the thoughts away. I saw the thief dead. I watched as security carried her body away. She wasn’t coming back.
Taking a few deep breaths, I followed behind Ms. Obscura until we came to a room filled with bookshelves and a few very dusty chairs.
“Looks like nobody’s been here in a while,” I said.
“I’d guess it’s still a secret, then.” She turned in a slow circle, taking in the room. “It’s not glamorous, but it was a good place to get away from everyone when needed.”
“What do you think it was originally?” I asked.
“I’m guessing it was some professor’s office.” She pointed to two doors in the back of the room. “One of those takes you to the Spellcasting auditorium. The other to the creature den.”
I’d been to the creature den a few times. It was full of cats, and mice, and birds. Mostly animals we worked with in our Training Your Familiars class. It was an uneventful class for me. Turns out, I’m not very good with animals. Apparently, that skill skips a generation. Though, I hadn’t had any magic for most of the class, so it was hard to say if it was me or just shit timing.
“Thanks for showing me this,” I said.
“I know I come across as harsh,” she said. “But I’m a woman in a position of power. I fight every day for my company and for my place in this world. And I want a woman like that keeping my sons in check. I think that could be you.”
“I appreciate your vote of confidence,” I said.
“I may be old fashioned, but I’m not inflexible. Keep that in mind.” She walked past me toward the tunnel that led out of the room.
I followed her, grateful that our chat was over. Tea with Ms. Obscura hadn’t been what I expected, but it was still a pretty intense morning. I wondered if I’d have time for a nap before I met Luka’s mom.
I also wondered what a princess of hell had in store for me.
6
Raven
The day seemed to spin by without any time to stop and think. We weren’t even back in classes yet, but the semester was staring off well. I’d had an interesting meeting with the twins’ mom.
And there was the solo time I got with Matt.
My face heated just thinking of it and how much I wanted to do it again.
Shaking the thought from my mind, I focused on myself in the mirror. Out of all my mates’ parents, Luka’s mom scared me the most.
What did that even mean?
I wasn’t religious but I’d always thought hell was the place where evil people went after they died to burn forever. Well, I wasn’t sure I believed it actually existed before all of this, but now that I found out it did, I wondered if the stories were true.
Was it really full of humans who had done bad things? Was Luka’s mom in charge of something there? And if she was a princess was there a king?
I had a million questions but I was afraid to ask any of them. It made me feel like I didn’t know as much as I should. Was her job common knowledge to the people around here?
Luka didn’t like talking about his life outside of school and I’d respected that. But now that I was faced with meeting his mom, I wished I’d pushed back a little. I felt like I was walking into a gunfight unarmed.
And my makeup skills sucked. I looked worse with my attempt at trying to doll myself up than I did without anything.
Quickly, I scrubbed the makeup off my face. I was in big trouble. I needed Luka’s mom to like me.
Hoping Makayla wasn’t out with her parents, I left my room and headed to hers.
She answered on the first knock and I blew out a relieved breath.
“Don’t you have dinner with royalty?” she asked, a hand on her hip.
“I need help,” I said.
“What is it?” Her eyes widened and she tensed.
“Nothing’s wrong,” I said. “Other than the fact that I’m terrible at makeup and I know nothing about Luka’s mom or hell or anything.”
“Ohhhh,” Makayla dragged the word out, then she opened the door wider. “Come on in. Let your fairy godmother help you out.”
“Thank you,” I said as I entered her room. “I’m sure you have places to be and I’m so sorry.”
“My family already left.” She shrugged. “Stopped by for a quick breakfast then heading to some new mines they’re investigating in Argentina.”
“That sounds exciting,” I said.
She pushed me into a chair in front of her bathroom mirror. “Not really. It’s all soil samples and negations with lawyers and government officials.”
Her bathroom counter was covered in makeup just as it had been before the Yule ball. I was grateful that I had a friend who knew how to use all this stuff. I could pretty much only be counted on to use mascara properly.
“Sit still,” Makayla instructed as she got to work.
She applied various creams and powders. Then she added eyeliner and mascara. “I’m keeping it simple today. Despite the reputation hell has, I think the princess will appreciate you going for a more natural look.”
“What do you know about hell or about Luka’s mom? Anything you can tell me?” I asked.
“Well, it’s not like humans think of it. It’s just another realm. It’s where demons come from and is mostly inhabited by demons and fallen angels from what I hear. From time to time, mages will move down there, but it’s pretty warm and I don’t think it would be fun to live somewhere without sunshine.”
I took a deep breath. It didn’t sound as bad as the human stories made it seem. “And Luka’s mom?”
“Oh, she’s a legit badass. Royalty in the underworld is absolute. So she has all the power. They divide it between six royals and they each govern their own territory but I think they can still act as
the law when they visit other territories. I’ve always been a little fuzzy on their exact rules. I never figured I’d need the info since it wasn’t on my bucket list of places to visit,” she said. “Now, press your lips together.”
I did as she instructed, rubbing the light nude lipstick on my lips. “Are there any customs or things I should know before I meet her?”
She set the lipstick tube on the counter. “Luka didn’t give you anything?”
I shook my head. “I should probably be pissed, but we haven’t done a lot of talking in the last few weeks.”
“Got it. Booty calls round the clock,” she said with a laugh.
“Speaking of booty calls…” I let the words hang in the air.
“We’re not going to talk about that right now,” she said. “We all get lonely sometimes.”
“I’m not judging,” I said. “Well, I’m not judging much.”
She gave me a gentle push. “We can’t all be as lucky as you.”
“Hey, as long as he makes you happy,” I said.
“Well, he’s an asshole, but he’s a beast in the sack,” she said. “So for now, it works.”
She looked happy and I was grateful she’d found someone to keep her company. My evenings had been very busy lately between Luka and Ben. Now that the holidays were over, it was time for homework and there was also Matt. And Zach.
My life had not gone the direction I expected it to go but I was grateful. “I’m happy for you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said. “Now, go impress a princess.”
I smiled and admired her work in the mirror. Makayla had a gift for sure. “Thank you.”
“I want all the details when you’re done, though,” she said.
“I promise,” I said.
“I’ll be here waiting. But you’ll probably want to knock.”
I laughed. “I’ve learned knocking is very important around here.”
7
Luka
Academy of the Elites: Fated Magic Page 3