Blooming Black: Rosewood Academy of Witches and Mages (Darkly Sweet Book 4)

by Juliann Whicker

  He sat up, ran a hand through his messy hair and grinned at me. “I don’t think the driver gets stuck with the bill, but since you’re clearly unhinged, I’ll humor you. Hang on.”

  He drove crazy which made me feel nauseous even in the backseat, but the pool hall was close.

  Getting into fights with Zach was fun. Drinking until I was throwing up in the back alley with him afterwards was also fun. Fighting some more was fun. So much fun. Finally, we were careening up the hill back to Fairfield. We shouldn’t drink and drive, but I only told Zach to go faster.

  When I woke up, I was in Zach’s bed, his feet in my face because apparently he’d gone to sleep upside down. Time. I found his wrist and dragged it out of the blankets so I could check the time.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, groggy. I grabbed the elixir of death, swallowed enough to bring me wide awake and mostly sober and passed the bottle to him.

  “What time was the mage going to meet me? Did we miss it? No. We still have twenty minutes. Come on. We have to get in place. Where are the flying pants?”

  He drank a lot of the nasty stuff, wiped his mouth, shuddered a few times and then we were suiting up. I braided my hair away and pulled on the cute beret that buzzed for a second while microfibers spread down and wrapped my braid, keeping it from flame and magic. The gloves were also nice. I’d have a lot of pow even without channeling Pitch, but I’d channel her anyway. The bar fight had made her jealous. She wanted to play.

  If the mage didn’t show up, I’d have to play with Zach. Would he mind? I glanced over at him where he was focused on programming his metallic gloves. “If he doesn’t come, I’m going to hurt you.”

  He glanced over at me. “You’re a tough mistress. You don’t easily forgive failure.”

  I laughed. “It has nothing to do with forgiveness. Pitch wants to play. If you aren’t her companion, you’re her victim. And then you’ll have to heal both of us. Such an inefficient game.”

  He grinned and gripped my hand, his steal encased fingers squeezing the life out of mine. “You are an impossible amount of fun. Let’s do this every Tuesday.” He let go of my hand and I shook it out wincing. My own gloves gave me a little protection, but I was light and quick while he was brute strength.

  “It isn’t Tuesday. It’s Wednesday.”

  He shrugged and adjusted a metal join beneath his armpit. I could improve that clasp. I’d work on it later. After I could walk. “This is still yesterday’s party. Come on, Penny.”

  We set up on the roof. Zach carried me up because I wasn’t used to the flying pants. I was apparently breaking them in on the fly. Right. I was on the top of the building next to the drive while Zach landed on the other building, the one with the boy’s gym inside it. It was still dark.

  A girl with golden curls and a very short skirt waited in front of the packages drop off area where Signore usually came. She was right on time and looked ridiculously cold. We had a few minutes to try out our spy coms that were little black specks. I’d stuck mine on the top of my nose like a real witch’s mole.

  “Penny, who did you get to double? Is that Rhoda? She’s got great legs.”

  “Shut it, Zach. Next time I’ll put you in a short skirt.”

  “That makes sense. My legs are even better.”

  I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see me. “Do you sense anything?”

  He had amazing sensors built into his suit plus magic. “Not yet. You?”

  How was I supposed to sense anything? “Yeah, a mage with serious mental issues is about to get a headache.”

  The pebble I’d just thrown dinged on his helmet and fell off the building to skitter across the drive towards Rhoda.

  “I thought this was a stake out. I didn’t realize we were trying to draw attention. My bad. I have a sound system in my suit. Shall I turn it on? Something good? A march maybe?”

  “A what?”

  “Never mind. You’re not exactly the most musical person in the world.”

  “Probably the least. What’s that?”

  “What? I don’t sense anything.”

  I frowned down at the drive and even though I couldn’t see anything, it seemed like something was flickering down the drive between the buildings, like a force of energy that I could feel tugging on me.

  “Zach, fifteen feet South from Rhoda, aim at it.”

  When the creature came out of the thin air, Zach hit it almost immediately with a net and stakes that burrowed into the earth, stopping the animal in its tracks. A mage followed, a staff raised that he aimed at Rhoda. She put up a defense shield and threw a hurter at him. One of mine. Pink and sparkly. It took a second for the cloud to clear, but I didn’t have a second. I leapt down, counting on my magic pants to keep me from breaking a leg. I hit the mage and was embraced by the hurter storm, but the second I touched him, I yelled into the intercom, “It’s Jackson. Go through the energy bubble thing and find the other mage.”

  I pounded Jackson’s head on the pavement in the middle of the flying silver specks until he was unconscious, then I leapt up carrying Jackson, way too high so I came down hard on the building I’d recently left. I dropped him, tied him up and walked over to the edge of the building. Rhoda was still in position, staring at the swirling hurter as it died down. Had she not seen me grab Jackson and haul him off? If she hadn’t, neither had the mage.

  The creature was hissing and clawing, scratching itself across its mottled nose, purples and blues blending across its pale snout. It was kind of cute for an animal the size of a car. If I had magic, I could make him turn around and attack whoever had sent it. Maybe shrink it and put it in a cage next to Señor Mort. Magic would be cool and useful.

  “Zach? Where are you?” I hissed speaking towards my nose. He wasn’t on the building across from me, and the energy bubble was still there, bubbling, probably leading into Darkside. If he didn’t come out at the count of five, I was going in after him.

  “One. Two. Three. Four. Four and a half…”

  A rolling ball of green shot out of the energy bubble. A red-haired mage in a purple suit, at least a suit that used to be purple, rode a crumpled mage across the pavement, his green firesword at the other mage’s throat.

  For a long time the world stopped as I stared at Drake, his green eyes visible even at that distance, a mocking smile on his perfectly curled lips. He looked like the worst and most beautiful mage in the world, everything about him alive and compelling from the somehow intentionally looking mussed hair to his almost careless grip on the green sword. It wasn’t the weapon that made him dangerous, it was the intent, the energy, the focus he had in spite of his seeming carelessness. My downfall. The mage who had chosen practicality over my heart.

  “He’s too pretty,” Pitch hissed.

  Zach stepped through the energy bubble into sight and then pointed over his shoulder as he pushed a button. I heard a rumbling and then the energy bubble vanished.

  Zach. I needed to focus on him instead of the rising darkness, the pain in my chest. “Zach, what’s going on?”

  He glanced up at me from the drive where I stood on the edge of the roof, one boot up as I leaned over the mess of mages and monsters. “Drake was already there when I arrived. Apparently, you’re not the only one who wants a piece of this mage. What is he wearing? Yellow and lilac? We could blow him up in Lilac stories for our redecorate.”

  I tried to laugh, tried to smile but Drake was wearing the suit meant for the mage I was going to rip apart, like he was mocking me, like giving me a broken-heart handkerchief.

  “You need to rip him apart,” Pitch hissed.

  Zach froze. “Penny, what did you say?”

  “The suit and the mage are mine.”

  “Penny, you can’t attack a mage, it’s not—”

  The sound of the hurter I threw at Drake cut Zach off and threw him back, but not like it hit Drake. He flew across the pavement while his green sword went the other direction. The hurter was very pretty, silver
and gold with lot of pretty hearts and stars. I threw another hurter while Drake was still down. The first hurter’s second wave went off at the moment I nailed Drake in the chest with the second hurter. The clouds of pink and green smoke filled the drive and visibility became problematic. Also, it wasn’t enough to hurt him from a distance. I didn’t think about the flying pants, I simply dropped over the edge of the building to land at impact point, otherwise called Drake’s chest.

  The shock of feeling his alive, moving body beneath my boots stunned me almost as much as my hurter’s next wave, a blinding flash of Penny Huntsman in lightning letters along with burning confetti. Penny Huntsman. Oh that hurt worse than the shrapnel and shock waves. It hurt, pain sharp and blinding like my foot in Drake’s face. I kicked him until he rolled and hit my leg. I flipped back, kicking him back down again before he scrambled to his feet. I landed and launched myself at him, three strikes forward before falling back in the usual pattern of mage martial style.

  I was worthless without magic, but I could spar better than him in his own style. Drake Huntsman and his stupid prestigious school full of prissy rich mages who couldn’t do Chemistry or Chemiss, Spellwork or Sophis, no, but they had the power, of course, because money plus magic equals power. Even if you couldn’t cast a spell to save your life, even if you couldn’t keep your idiot knee uncocked, even if you couldn’t follow through on a basic contract.

  I didn’t realize I was screaming until Zach dragged me off the bloody and cracked green mage. I whirled on him hissing. “Blue mage, you do not interrupt me when I’m having a conversation.”

  Zach’s eyes were brilliant and compelling, but not as beautiful as the mage I loved. “Penny, you can’t fight a mage. You’re breaking the law.”

  I cocked my head until Zach let go of me, but he didn’t move back quickly enough. I whirled into him, ash, smoke, pain, breaking his jaw then slamming him back, followed by a hurter.

  I turned to face Drake, swollen and bloody, but so beautiful, real, clawmarks across his cheek that I’d never seen before, old clawmarks. He needed a matching set on the opposite side. First, the question of ownership.

  “Drake Huntsman. You’re wearing my suit.”

  He grinned at me teeth bloody, lips swollen. “It looks better on me.”

  “Wrong answer.”

  I moved in, hard and fast. He blocked, that manic grin on his face while his eyes burned into me. He was very quick and almost precise, but that knee, the shuffle in his reverse, the fact that he’d always underestimate me, were all to my advantage. I went in then spun away, then back in when he came after me. I unbuttoned his jacket in that movement, then whirling around him, yanked it off his shoulders, and kicking him forward between his shoulder blades. He recovered, not even stumbling before he came around, which is what I wanted, because that shirt was mine. I struck him, moving around him until I’d plucked off all the buttons and his shirt flapped open in the breeze.

  I crouched opposite him and grinned. “Property of Penny Lane. You still belong to me. I will rip you apart at my slightest whim.”

  His eyes brightened for a moment before darkness clouded his gaze and his lips twisted into a sneer. “That’s right, I begged you to cut your name into me. Wait, no. That was someone else.” His voice was sharp and hard, taunting me. He wanted me to hurt him because he liked it. He liked feeling my fist against his face. He liked my boots in his ribs. Why would he want me to hurt him?

  I took two steps away from him, still crouched, ready, but he didn’t follow, didn’t pursue, hadn’t used a speck of magic or any of his tricks, sticking to the forms like this was a tournament to be judged according to strict rules. He hadn’t hurt me. He wanted me to hurt him.

  The world spun around me. What about the mage? I’d completely forgotten about him. Why did I care about some pointless mage? He’d hurt Poppy. Hadn’t he? I’d hurt Poppy. I’d crushed her when she was vulnerable, because I could, because she’d hurt me, left me like Drake had left me.

  I gasped as a rib shattered. No. I was pain. I wasn’t ready to feel, not yet. I turned, searching for the mage, the mage I’d wanted so much to capture and destroy. He stood on the edge of the drive, silver confetti swirling around his feet in the wind.

  “You didn’t run away.” My voice sounded tinny and garbled.

  The mage, Mitch cocked his head, short hair dirty blond, not matching the gold or blue eye. “I’ve been looking for a new ally. Sooth is last generation.”

  Drake’s voice was certain and steady from just behind me. “I already told you, I have enough allies. You waste my time.”

  Mitch glanced at Drake then focused on me, taking two steps closer before he stopped, his smile reminding me so much of Poppy, I was certain I was going to throw up all over him. “Who said I wanted the green mage? If you ever want a real Darksider to play with, you only have to think of me.”

  He blew me a kiss and vanished. I stared stupidly at the space where he’d been, ears buzzing, ribs aching. Another rib snapped. I gasped and wrapped my arms tightly around myself.

  “Penny, are you okay?” Zach sounded so concerned.

  I didn’t turn to look at him. “Send Ian to my room, Zach. I don’t want to see you for a while.”

  I leapt as far as I could in my flying pants, coming down too hard on the muddy, slushy green. My leg twisted and I started hopping. I made it to Lilac Stories, into my room and crashed across my bed.

  Tears fell, but not from the pain I’d given Drake and myself through my infinitely frustrating empathy. Is that why he wanted me to hurt him, because that would hurt myself and he found that ironic and funny? I had the purple coat. I held onto it, pressing my face into the silk lining, inhaling deeply and smelling dragon, but mostly Drake.

  Chapter 27

  Mage

  I watched her go, would have followed her except that Zach grabbed my arm, yanking me back.

  “I should kill you.”

  It took me a moment to get the fury under control and turn to him with a civil smile. “Only if you could. I dislike a lack of followthrough.”

  He snarled at me, eyes bright and burning. “Like contracting with a witch and jilting her at the last moment?”

  I snapped my fingers. “Exactly like that. Mages who do that should be sacrificed to the gods of broken contracts. Tell me, Zach, why does she want Ian in her room?”

  “Why did you want the same mage we were after? Are you stalking her?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’m hunting the sorcerer. That miserably dressed Darkside mage worked with him, still does for all I know. The sorcerer who is after Penny. And Pitch,” I added with my own snarl. My hands ached to grip his throat and squeeze the life out of him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I would have right after you told me about your dragon.”

  I clenched my teeth while he smiled pleasantly in spite of the goose egg rising on his forehead. Penny packed a mean punch. “I suppose we all have our secrets, and hers weren’t yours to tell.”

  Zach glanced around at the witches and mages who had gathered, probably alerted to the action by Penny’s shockingly brilliant hurters. I should be skinned for letting her think for a moment that there was anything subpar about her.

  “Your room, drinks, ice, you can tell me your story. It has to be a good one with such an impressive ending.” He glanced around again, this time at the drive, the crater where I’d been. Penny Huntsman. It made me want to tear out someone’s hair. Maybe mine.

  I nodded and stepped throughside, coming back into my black bedroom that still had traces of pink glitter.

  I got ice in towels and went to the door to open it for Zach. He stole my towel of ice and put it to his forehead before he crashed onto the couch.

  “What will you have to drink?” I asked, pouring myself a cup of orange bergamot tea.

  “I’ll have what you’re having.”

  I raised my eyebrow then shrugged and brought him over his own steaming cup of the golden l
iquid.

  I sat beside him, stretched my legs out on the coffee table with the warm cup on my stomach and sighed.

  “Things were going so well. I almost had Darkside under control. He’d been setting up deals for weeks, months maybe.” I shrugged. “When he put them through I found myself at something like the low range of Dayside mages, maybe seventy-eighth wealthiest family. It’s going to keep going down.”

  Zach choked on his tea and sat up straight. “You’re kidding me. You really dumped Penny at the altar over money?”

  I glared at him. “She came here to marry you. Your family is now number one. Congratulations.” I took a long sip of the scalding tea. “It’s not just the money, no, of course not. My family is now vulnerable to Sooth. I can’t protect her from him with my powerful Daysider family when he’s controlling it. I could protect her in Darkside better than I can here, and she needs a strong Dayside mage, a peer.”

  I closed my eyes and tried to make the rest of the world go away. Tea didn’t help, but nothing did, and tea felt like the right thing.

  “So, she still needs to be married?”

  “Before her eighteenth birthday.”

  “Because of the curse?”

  “I think it’s the Daysider’s Contract.”

  Zach scowled at me. “If she’s a magicless Daysider, her protection would transfer to her Dayside spouse’s family as long as she’s married by eighteen. I always thought that was a bizarre law. How often do you have aberrations?”

  “They’re illegal to create. They cause too many wars, the kind that tear apart worlds.”

  He grinned. “I never thought you’d say that, ‘too many wars,’ it’s like you’re a changed mage.” His smile drained and he shook his head. “Why tell her that she has to get married to save her mother? That’s the odd thing about all this.”

  “I’m fairly certain her father’s the deception sorcerer who cursed all Creagh females until they delivered her to them. That’s a rather impressive curse. Deception sorcerers mess with people’s heads. Ask me how I know. That’s where her memory gaps come from. That picture of the sorcerer and the toes, it’s him, I’d bet my second favorite pair of cufflinks on it.”