Dread Delight: Rosewood Academy for Witches and Mages (Darkly Sweet Book 2)

by Juliann Whicker

  I exhaled as I stood up, blinking before I reached up to smooth my fingers over my eye. “Is it finished?”

  Jasper and Drake exchanged glances.

  “What? What’s wrong?”

  “There’s a slight scar that might decrease your vision by a possible half a percent,” Jasper began.

  “Half a percent? It’s okay. I’ll poultice it and it will smooth out. What else?”

  “You’re still a little bit… colorful,” Drake finally said.

  I blinked at him. The bruising, the swelling, of course. That was the tightness I could feel. “Is that a problem? Can’t you do that?”

  Drake walked across his room, down the broad steps and to the table where he sat down on the couch, leaning back while he ate a plate of food he must have prepared for himself hours earlier.

  “He’ll need to rest for a few minutes, then he’ll finish up,” Jasper said, soothingly. “Don’t let him fall asleep until he’s done. You see, he’s never done spellwork of this magnitude so quickly before. He lacks the reserves of strength to do this kind of healing in one sitting. Your step-father must be quite proficient if he can sustain healing for that amount of time.”

  “Yeah, he’s great.”

  “Drake, wake up. You’re not finished here.”

  Drake sat bolt upright and turned to scowl at Jasper. “You’re going to be the death of me. I see that smirk beneath the façade of dedicated servitude. Don’t let him fool you, Penny. He’s a terror.”

  I looked at Jasper whose eyes twinkled like an athletic coach I’d never had.

  “Miss Lane, it was a pleasure to meet you when you were conscious, but I have pressing business back at the estate. I trust that Drake can’t mess up the bruising spell on his own. It’s rather similar to the broken bone spell.”

  I smiled at him. “Not at all. Actually, I’m feeling much better. If bruising is all that’s left, I should probably just…”

  Jasper put a hand on my shoulder to keep me from standing.

  “Penny, it’s almost as though you don’t want to spend more time in my bed. Are you afraid of a sweet little mage like me?” Drake smiled at me over Jasper’s shoulder, put his hand over Jasper’s, and then Jasper turned, took a step and was no longer in the room, leaving me with a bright-eyed Drake.

  “Honestly, I can handle bruising. I’ve been doing it all semester.”

  “Yes, of course you can, but why should you? We’re already doing it. You know I’m not a halfway kind of mage. Relax.” He sat on the edge of the bed with the small book in his hand. He read while I sat there.

  I should leave. I should do something else other than watch him read, but it would so nice to be completely healed. I’d always taken Revere for granted, but not having him there to so efficiently and seemingly effortlessly heal me made me more aware of how much effort he had always put into my happiness and well-being. I should send him a card or something. He’d hate that. I’d definitely have to send him a card.

  I lay back down and closed my eyes. I was tired. Exhausted because healing took a lot out of me, or maybe it was the pain. Pain was exhausting. Whenever I took Signore’s pain I needed a long nap afterwards. What he’d said, about me not owing him, but about me taking his pain, that was a little bit like the spellbook, the debt that wasn’t a debt because it was simply mutual gifts. With Signore it hadn’t ever felt like that, because I’d always openly taken his pain, and he’d always been my friend. To me, him coming, listening to me, laughing with me, it was more than any measurable price. It was more than anything, and he gave it without hesitation, just as I took his pain.

  When Drake put his hands on my legs, I woke up because his skin was warm, hot almost. Revere’s hands got progressively warmer as he healed, so Drake being so warm was probably a bad sign. I studied him, the feverish flush in his normally pale cheeks, the over-bright eyes that sparked green, but a darker color. He really was getting a good workout. I smiled at him sweetly.

  “You seem pleased. Perhaps you wanted to be in my bed all along.”

  “Drake, I think I’m getting revenge on all the times in the last week I was too exhausted to walk after dancing with Ian and Zach. You’re really worn out. Revere never gets so tired.”

  His lips twisted in a sneer. “Now you sound like Jasper. I know. I’m not good at spellwork. I have no trouble mastering a subject if I see its relevance, but when I always had Jasper to do it…” He shook his head. “I suppose it’s my arrogance. I have a lot of that.”

  “Less every day,” I murmured, brushing my fingers over his lips.

  His eyes widened. “Do you think so?”

  “Definitely. Wait until you have a pet mouse. There’s nothing more humbling than putting on your favorite jacket and finding a fresh gift from your dear friend.”

  He captured my fingers, brought them back to his lips to press a very thorough kiss to them before he returned to his work. “Don’t distract me or I’m liable to faint on top of you, and then what?”

  “I wonder if you’d make a very good blanket.”

  “There’s only one way to find out. Sh. This is tricky.”

  I rolled my eyes and held myself still, mostly, but I couldn’t help sliding my fingers under his shirt and tickling his stomach when he wasn’t looking. Or tugging on his hair when he was bent over me, or unbuttoning his shirt, one button at a time and seeing how long it would take him to notice. Heavens, I was playful. I shouldn’t be, but he was so adorable, and I wanted to play. Pitch had played. It was my turn.

  Finally, he had his fingers on my face, stroking the skin as if urging the swelling down while he spoke incoherent syllables that I was fairly certain were completely wrong. The swelling fell away, further and further until I felt like I was floating on a sea of contentment, completely devoid of pain.

  I grinned at him and half sat up on my elbows. “You actually did it. I thought you would mess up, but look at you. You really are the mage.”

  He nodded slowly and leaned over me leering. “You have no idea how irritating it is that I’m going to pass out. I won’t even remember how you feel beneath my face.”

  I laughed, but before I could say anything, he slumped over, a boneless flop while his eyes rolled back in his head and he lay there, his body far too hot over mine. I did what any girl in my position would do. I pulled him over so that he was more comfortable, and started knotting black ribbons in his hair. He was just lucky that I didn’t have any pink ones on hand, although that would match his pants.

  I enjoyed myself, but after a few minutes and a dozen ribbons, I started feeling guilty. He’d exerted so much effort on me and the only thing I’d given was a little spellbook. Maybe it was rare, but he was Drake Huntsman. He could have all the rare books he liked. I slid my fingers over the perfectly etched cheekbone then over the skin to his straight and slightly sharp nose. I ran my finger over the bridge and took a little bit of pain. Only a tiny bit, but then as I drew my fingers down, lightly caressing his lips, I took a few drops more. His pain didn’t hurt me. It would exhaust me, but at the moment it felt like a legitimate reason to run my hands all over the unconscious mage. Not all over.

  I gripped his hands, stared into his closed eyes, and pulled his pain into me. It gave sharp and sudden. Signore’s was always so reluctant, but Drake’s was easy, light, not sunk into his bones like lead in a coffin. The exhaustion hit me as suddenly as a piano falling.

  Chapter 38

  Mage

  “Black ribbons, does that symbolize like death of style or what?”

  I turned to look at Viney where she stood at the edge of the auditorium, arms crossed, anger in her eyes. I fingered the last of the ribbons Penny had knotted into my hair. I couldn’t seem to get them out, either from her immense skill or my lack of desire. Why take out black ribbons when you could keep them in?

  “Afternoon, Viney. You’re looking charming. Practicing corps with the girls?”

  Her scowl darkened fractionally. It could only go so dark,
and she was already at that point of utter blackness. “Zach is getting on my nerves.”

  “He does that from time to time. Just electrocute him or something. I find that always works for me.”

  “It’s been a week since Pitch came. A week, and Penny still won’t let Zach get close to her, and he whines to me about it. He has everything he’s ever wanted, and he whines. It pisses me off.”

  “That does sound annoying.”

  “It’s not that I blame Penny. Everyone knows that Pitch roughed her up, no kidding, she did a number on me too, but Zach needs to figure out what he wants. I offered to give his link to Pitch, and he refused. What is that? Said that his love and obsession was enough of a hold over him and he doesn’t want to lose any more of himself. Like he doesn’t have a choice. I saw him after Pitch. Euphoric. And now he’s whining about how Penny doesn’t like him anymore. So what?”

  “So what, indeed. I have to admit, I am not broken-hearted over this development. Zach’s attachment to Pitch trumps anything he could ever feel for anyone else. Why is he complaining to you?”

  “He used to whine to Penny about how he felt about things, but she won’t listen. She’ll hang out with me, play video games or whatever, but when we had a horror movie, she just went to her room. I keep waiting for Zach to do something stupid, like assault her, force her to listen to him and be his friend in spite of how much that hurts her.” She shook her head.

  I sighed. I didn’t really have time for a heart-to-heart with Viney. “That’s frustrating. Look, I’m not sure what you want me to say or do. Zach and Penny have their own complex history that they must figure out. If I were Penny, I’d change rooms to get away from him, but she didn’t want to start over with new roommates. And she likes you.” I grinned at her. “You’ve got her fooled, Viney. She thinks you’re a good egg.”

  “Did she say that, ‘good egg’?” she snarled.

  I shook my head and patted her on the head. Her hair was stiff from whatever she used to keep it in spikes.

  She jerked away and pursed her lips. “I’m not your pretty little pet of a girl. You know, with those ridiculous ribbons, you’re the one who looks like the pet.”

  I grinned at her widely. “Good. I’d certainly like to give the appearance of that.”

  Her scowl faded to concerned. “Between Zach and you, she’ll be ripped apart one way or another.”

  “Hopefully Zach’s way is over.”

  “And yours?”

  I checked the time and shook my head. “I need to go practice with the divine Witley.”

  Her glare darkened impressively. “And when Penny realizes that you sing like an angel instead of whatever it is you sound like when you sing around her? When she hears you and the divine Witley singing words of love to each other in front of the entire school? What then? She’ll know that you’ve been mocking her this entire time, that she’s a laughingstock to you.”

  I gave her a charming smile. “Then you’ll help her be somewhere else so she doesn’t need to think anything about it.”

  She lifted her chin and swallowed like she could only speak with difficulty. “It’s going to cost you. I don’t like helping you deceive her.”

  I almost reached out and stroked her cheek, whispered something low that would send her pulse racing, but I remembered that I wasn’t doing that anymore. I stepped back so I couldn’t accidentally forget. “Of course. It shouldn’t take a great deal of time so payback should be reasonable.”

  Her lips twisted. “The time it takes for one performance, yeah, I’ll collect on that soon.”

  I frowned at her. “Within reason. I could simply sing badly during the performance. Your service isn’t essential.”

  She laughed, a harsh laugh. “Drake humiliating himself in public? Everyone watching, Drake onstage? Yeah, like you could ever swallow an ego as big as yours. You’re making certain that she works herself to death with that revolting mage Ian just so she doesn’t make you look bad. The only person I’d ever suspect you of loving is your own reflection.”

  I studied her thoughtfully. “That’s probably true. If I’m so shallow, what does that say about the depths of all the witches who adore me?”

  She winced, glaring at me. “I hate my reaction to you.”

  “So do I. So stop having it. Forget about whatever price you’re going to ask that’s going to end badly. Ask for money instead, a business, dressing tips, something that won’t hurt Oscar and Penny, and me. And you.”

  She stared at me with wide eyes. She’d asked me to not take advantage of her obsession, and the moment I held back, she couldn’t help but indulge it. Pity. This would probably go very badly. Deals with witches always did, except where Penny was concerned. Deals with her were always mutually delightful.

  I left Viney satisfied at least that she would do her best to keep Penny from my performance with Witley.

  People hurt each other. It was inevitable because no two people’s wills could ever be perfectly aligned unless it was a slave/master relationship. I didn’t mind a little bit of collision of will with Penny Lane.

  Waking up with her in my bed was the strangest thing. I spent far too much time fantasizing about it. Not fantasizing because it had truly happened. I’d woken up angry, furious, wanting to strangle the witch in my arms because of what she was, my immediate reflex that of destruction, but then she’d stirred in my arms, snuggling deeper against me and murmured my name. To find that the most diabolical thing she’d done while I was at her mercy was to tie knots in my hair was more than charming. I’d stayed there, perfectly still for hours holding a witch and desiring her no harm. But that didn’t mean that I wouldn’t hurt her. It was inevitable, my nature.

  All week I’d spent in a strange haze, working with various students without the ordinary green fury lurking around the edges. I was so used to pushing back the anger, the violence, I wasn’t sure what to do without it. I spoke gently with some poor kid who had no idea how to hold a knife, and it wasn’t laced with sarcastic contempt.

  When I was with Penny, I wanted to luxuriate in her presence. I wanted to sink into her sweetness and never surface again. I didn’t want to hurt her. Particularly since I’d have to put her back together afterwards. I really hadn’t thought this whole thing through, the becoming part of her and then taking over so much of her protection when I was destined to break her. It was inefficient to hurt her. But I had to. At least once.

  Ian sat beside me after the tourney on Saturday, both of us swollen lipped and bruised. Penny hadn’t come. “Her skills improve every day. She’s got the bones of a dancer.”

  He didn’t have to say who. He knew perfectly well that my mind was always half turned in her direction. “You’re enjoying this week, dancing with her personally.”

  He shrugged. “Zach was too stiff, too concerned with revealing his secret intentions that he won’t even allow himself to realize. He’s suffering wonderfully from their separation.”

  I made a sound. I shouldn’t be sitting there. I didn’t have a moment to spare, not if I wanted to clear my Tuesday again to be with Penny, but I didn’t want to move. “You don’t mind that she despises you?”

  He shrugged. “It’s an appropriate response for any virgin in my hands.”

  I glared at him. “And any non-virgin as well.”

  He gave me a glimmering golden smile. “True. What do you think of Jackson?”

  “Not much. He hasn’t been around to inflict his presence upon my thoughts.”

  “Witley is using him for something. She sent him off to do something that makes her smile horrifyingly.”

  “Are you allowed to tell me that? You do belong to her.”

  He grinned. “She’s so busy trying to get a grasp on the Pitch angle that she’s loosening her noose on me, at least for the moment. I’m sure it won’t last.”

  “I’m sure it won’t. Jackson? Maybe I can have Zach look into it. He’s been bored lately.”

  “Bored is different from torn a
nd anguished from loving two witches.”

  “He doesn’t love Penny.”

  “Oh, I think he does.”

  I glared at him. “I don’t think that’s a useful thought for you to have. Should I burn it out of your brain?”

  He laughed. “It’s already flown. My thoughts never last long. Flighty beasts. Speaking of beasts, have you seen Teddy lately?”

  I shrugged. “No. He’s as busy with his school as I am with mine. How did you get out of the weight of responsibility? I’m jealous.”

  “I haven’t seduced a female in months. You haven’t lost your temper in almost as long. I wonder if Teddy is learning control as well. Perhaps we’re nearing maturity.”

  I stood and stretched. “Let’s hope so. His compulsion isn’t nearly as forgivable as ours. Unless he has a necromancer friend. He probably does.”

  “Happy thought.” Ian grinned at me. “I’m looking forward to the Blackheart tourney.”

  I grinned back. “It’s going to be marvelous.”

  He cocked his head. “You’re going to have to lose that happy magical glow if you’re going to be effective against Teddy and his Blackheart minions.”

  I rubbed my forehead. “I know. It’s difficult. I healed her. It should have irritated me, but instead I feel…”

  “Like she belongs to you and you’re taking good care of your precious treasure, keeping her well-polished and gleaming. The trouble is when you smell someone else on her. The happiness will twist into unbelievable fury. You won’t be able to contain it. And then you’ll have to fix whatever you broke afterwards, if you can.”

  I frowned at him. “I can fix what I break, it’s what Pitch breaks that’s difficult for me. I can do healing, just not conventional spellwork. We don’t need to, at least I didn’t until now.”

  He sighed and slapped my shoulder. “It’s difficult to be so amazing, isn’t it? If you learn spellcraft, which it seems you’re doing, I suppose I’d better actually work on my Chemiss skills. We’ll be appropriately skilled mages by the time we graduate Rosewood. Won’t Jasper be pleased?”