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

by Juliann Whicker

  Teddy hesitated then nodded. “Indeed. We’ll take the larger locker rooms, if you don’t mind.”

  I smiled blandly. “It’s an honor to have you here.”

  “But…” Pete began. I whirled on him and grabbed his throat, dragging him with me as I stepped into Darkside. I left him there, somewhere cold on a dark plain as I stepped back through, the ache for blood burning in my mouth. I smiled at Teddy then nodded at Oscar where he’d been holding back.

  “Lovecraft will lead you to your quarters.”

  Teddy cocked his head while he stared at me, black eyes alight with glee he didn’t show in the curve of his soft lips. He was absolutely beautiful. Hopefully he’d be gone before Penny saw him.

  We stood there while the other mages shuffled off to their respective rooms. Finally, when the last mage had left us to the buzzing and slightly flickering fluorescent light, Teddy walked towards me, his steps light and graceful.

  I stiffened when he circled me, looking me up and down as though I were a breed of dog he might purchase. “You’re shorter than I remember.”

  He grinned then, a terrifying smile that reminded me of her step-father, Revere. “And your fingers are bloodstained. That’s sloppy.”

  I licked my lips. I was so close to the violence, the buzzing filled my ears until there was barely anything else. Teddy could see it and would happily help me off the edge.

  “Teddy, you’re beautiful.” Ian’s low laugh filled the hall and pushed back the green a little bit. “You shouldn’t tease Drake. He’s operating under the influence.”

  I growled at him. Ian ignored my growl and dropped his hand on my shoulder, squeezing exactly where it would release a tiny bit of tension.

  Teddy laughed again, looking Ian up and down the way he’d studied me a moment before. “The two of you are glorious. You’d be very difficult to kill.”

  I exchanged a glance with Ian before I shook my head at Teddy. “Is that something you can’t help but attempt?”

  Teddy sighed and rolled his pretty eyes, lined with dark lashes. “Certainly not. My reputation is of lady-killer, not mage-killer. If I ever kill you, it will be a surprise.”

  “Attempt,” I corrected.

  He only grinned. “It’s actually nice to see you. Both of you. I feel like we should go drinking and tell bawdy stories.”

  Ian grinned. “Indeed. Your exploits with women are notorious. How do you manage it?”

  Teddy shrugged modestly. “I find that if I focus on a vice that isn’t my predisposition, it keeps me occupied enough to make the other nearly manageable.”

  I smacked Ian’s chest. “See? All you need is a few more vices.” I shook my head and turned to Teddy. “No good. He has all of them and they don’t help at all.”

  “Vices aren’t supposed to do good,” Teddy smirked.

  I laughed and felt a tiny bit less like devouring the world in my hungry jaws. Ian laughed along with me until he glanced at me, his eyes glittering.

  “You smell of desire. She’s all over you.”

  Teddy raised an eyebrow. “All I smelled was blood.”

  Ian’s eyes widened then he scowled at me. “Drake…”

  I shrugged off his hand and took two steps away from them both. “I’ve spent the last hour trying not to think of her. It’s not healthy for anyone.”

  “What is your vice?” Teddy asked, his tone languid, but his eyes were bright with intellectual curiosity. He was brilliant, by far the most curious and tenacious spellsmith I’d ever met. If he had a puzzle, he would worry at it until something gave. Usually my own patience.

  Ian answered. “Lust.”

  Teddy rolled his eyes. “Oh, I know. If I’m notorious, you’re infamous.”

  “There’s so little difference between the two.” Zach spoke softly, but coming like this, intruding our conversation made all three of us tense. “I hate to disrupt this charming reunion, but unfortunately Rosewood needs our fearless leader.”

  “I’ll be right there,” Ian drawled.

  I laughed and punched him in the stomach. “If only you were as much follow through as you were swagger.”

  I turned and walked past Zach. I raised a hand as I headed away from Ian and Teddy. “Later. We’ll drink and remininsce.”

  Zach fell in beside me. He deeply disliked both of them. He also had a lot of opinions about Penny. “He’s ridiculously pretty.”

  “Makes me feel almost plain. I can’t imagine how he makes you feel.”

  “Grotesque. Luckily, I’ve been trying my whole life to look less attractive.”

  “Lucky Pitch.”

  I walked faster, going into the dressing room where the other mages were. I nodded to Oscar and went to a locker on the end. I started undressing, pulling my shirt off and throwing it in, then staring into the gray interior, I ran my fingers over the words that only barely justified my behavior. I let the glamour fall that covered those marks and turned to face the room.

  The conversation fell silent as one by one, the mages glanced in my direction and saw the angry unhealed gashes. She hadn’t cut very deeply, but it had left an imprint all the way to my heart, to my soul if you believed that mages had those.

  Zach came in, glanced around then looked at me, his smile freezing then melting into a look of hurt betrayal. Why would he look like that? Penny was mine. She’d been mine since the first tea party when Zach had declined and I had taken his place.

  I stood there for a moment in silence before I went to the wall where we stored all the chemicals and compounds. I searched for the precise items I’d need for my show. I had to focus. Focus. I should already have run over the music and lighting with the tech team. They knew what to do, we’d been planning this for months, but I always gave them one final check before the show.

  Oscar stood beside me, choosing his own chemicals. When he looked past me and stiffened, I ignored him. I didn’t want to deal with it, Zachary or whatever. He cleared his throat and nudged me. I grabbed his throat and arm, twisting while I shoved him against the shelf, hard enough to make the jars rattle.

  “Drake?”

  I froze while I stared at Oscar’s smirk, Penny’s voice completely out of place in the mage’s locker room. At least she hadn’t accidentally wandered into Blackheart. I pressed my teeth into my bottom lip hard for a moment before I stepped away from Oscar and turned to face Penny. She stood a few steps past the doorway and stared at me, her enormous eyes soft and liquid, mouth lovely and pink. She was exquisite. The most delicious witch I’d ever imagined, and she belonged to me. The mages had already begun edging out around her, leaving me alone with her in very little time.

  I licked my lips. “Penny. Come to watch the mages undress again? You’ll have to dig latrines.”

  She walked towards me, almost like she was in a trance, her steps graceful, pink slippers peeking beneath the black gown that floated over her body. She wore a thin silk cloak that must have left her pale skin cold, but she didn’t seem to notice. Her curls tumbled down over her shoulders, skeins of red gold silk that had been spun to entangle my heart.

  “Drake? You didn’t answer your phone when I called you.”

  I took a deep breath and finally moved towards her. We met in the middle of the room. I stared at her while she gazed back. “I’m sorry. I should have stayed with you.”

  She cocked her head. “I feel strange, like I’m under a spell, but you’re the only one who could cast a spell on me.”

  I swallowed. “No spell.”

  She frowned slightly and then ran her fingers over my chest. I inhaled sharply while she studied me. “Energy work. I couldn’t tell before, but I can now. I can feel you. I was drawn to you before, like you were my home and I was your pigeon, but now it’s like there’s a door and you’re one side of it and I’m the other, but we’re always swinging together. No, that doesn’t make sense.”

  I covered her hand with mine. “This isn’t the best time to discuss this.”

  She stared at m
e, her hand cold. She was freezing. I should warm her up, take her in my arms and smooth away all the doubt and worry.

  “Then just tell me. I’ll get out of your way.”

  I swallowed before I stepped close to her while her eyes widened and her lips parted as though I were going to kiss her. If only I were. I slid my hand beneath the cloak, then when I felt the bandage beneath, I dug my fingers under the edge so I could slide over the raw wound, slick and wet with blood.

  Her eyes widened and her fingers pressed into my chest. “Property of Penny Lane,” she whispered and finally blinked. She stepped away from me, forcing my hand to fall from her skin.

  I almost pinned her against the shelf and touched her again, but instead I crossed my arms, sliding my fingers together, once more slick with her blood. “And now you’re monogrammed.”

  She stared at me, the glow leaving her eyes and instead they glistened with something else. “It will heal.”

  “Tell that to Zachary, the cut Pitch made all the way to his soul. Tell that to Ian who has belonged to Wit for four years from the doodle she made in his arm.”

  “Zach? The wound doesn’t have to say property of…”

  I gave her a tight smile. “No. Usually we’re a little more subte than that. I do like the direct approach. It would be even better if you’d drawn it across my forehead.”

  She shook her head, sending her hair flying around her. “I didn’t know. You’ve been planning this for a long time, getting your revenge for what I did to you in the woods that night.” She made a face. “You acted so reluctant. I knew better than letting a mage cut into my skin, but it didn’t matter. It still doesn’t matter. I still ache for you like…” Her eyes widened. “You will undo it, won’t you? I’ll undo the…” she gestured to my chest, uncertain what words to use. “I never meant to take you like that. It was an accident.”

  I growled, forcing myself to stay where I was instead of pressing her against the wall and making her take back her words. She needed me. She’d told me so. She didn’t want to throw me away like last season’s jacket. “I’m afraid you misunderstand, Penny. Mages tend to be possessive about things that belong to them, and I’m the most possessive mage I’ve ever met. You belong to me.” I turned and walked back to the shelf to study the contents. Magnesium. I was going to do something with that, but I couldn’t remember what.

  “Are you a complete idiot? I can’t belong to a mage.”

  “Then you shouldn’t have begged me to carve my initials into you. How many times did you beg? I lost track. Potassium? That would be interesting.”

  “Are you trying to blow up the entire tourney?” She reached past me and pulled a small bottle towards the edge. “This will give you the precise kick you need, and you should combine it with an aerial assault.”

  My hand covered hers and for a second I thought my heart would break, but I didn’t have a heart. I let go of her and she stepped away, crossing her arms.

  “Drake, I can’t belong to you. I have a lot going on with my life that doesn’t need this sort of complication.”

  I shrugged, studying the label. “It’s done.”

  “Drake!” She thumped me on the back. “Pitch is going to kill you!” Her voice was a low hiss.

  “She’s welcome to try.”

  She went to thump me again, but that time I spun and grabbed her wrists, staring at her coldly.

  “Penny, I have no interest in torturing you. Think of it as a close alliance. If you require the services of a mage, I’m here to assist you. If you do not wish to kiss me, I will not press you.”

  Her eyes burned back at me, furious. “And if I wish to marry another mage?”

  “That won’t be possible.”

  Her eyes widened. “Why not? You’re going to stop me?”

  “The last time I kissed a witch who wasn’t you, it very nearly killed me. Go ahead and try to kiss another mage. Your revulsion will stop you far more than anything I could do.”

  “What kind of curse is this?”

  I shook my head. “Not a curse but a spell. Harbor’s regret they call it.”

  “That’s a myth.”

  I closed my eyes and ran my hand through my hair. “This is not the best time to discuss this. If I don’t get the Rosewood mages prepared, they’re going to be a mess in the tourney, and some of them might get seriously injured by Blackheart. Come to my room in the morning and we’ll have waffles.”

  “Waffles? You think that waffles are going to fix everything? It really almost would, but Drake, you don’t understand. I can’t belong to you. I have a mission here, and getting distracted by a mage is not it.”

  “It can’t be undone.”

  “Everything can be undone.”

  I stared at her and she stared back, her determined frown somehow even lovelier than her trembling smile. She would try and fix this like she’d fixed the dress she wore, like I fixed laundry, but some things could not be fixed. And if it could, I would do my best to stop her. She belonged to me. That was precisely how things were going to stay as long as I breathed.

  Chapter 42

  Witch

  I left Drake in his locker room only realizing on the way out how it must have looked, me walking to find my master like a freshly raised zombie. I stumbled into the girl’s restroom. It was empty and cavernous. It looked like it hadn’t been used for years. I stood in front of the white porcelain sink, gripping the edge and staring at my vacant eyes. I shook my head and pulled my hair over my shoulder, turning so I could see the initials carved into my skin. He’d done a much prettier job than me. Of course he’d used a knife instead of his nails. He’d monogrammed me like a towel. His towel.

  My breathing hitched as I put my hand over my shoulder, running my neatly manicured fingernail over the outrageously curlicue D and the H, twined together with what looked like a dragon. I inhaled shakily. Everything after the last cut had been a blur, him buttoning my blouse, whispering words in a language I didn’t know as we walked back to my room then him giving me one last slow kiss before he’d closed the door and left me alone.

  I ran my hands over my crown then let my hand fall limp, sore, drained, truly exhausted. What the crap was wrong with me? I’d just followed Drake into the men’s changing room because he hadn’t answered my call. He had to answer me. He couldn’t leave me alone. Seriously, I actually felt like that, needy and desperate for a mage. It had finally happened to me. I’d begged some mage to cut his initials into my skin. That had really happened and I’d liked it. Oh no, I’d loved it. So much. I’d do it all over again if he were here now. Not that he could because he already carved his name in my skin.

  I thunked my head on the mirror. Once, twice, three times, but when I straightened up and blinked at myself the stupid girl blinked back at me with enormous, soft hazel eyes and puffy parted lips, like she was just aching to kiss some snake again. She was. She couldn’t lie to me, not when she’d begged him to engrave his initials into her shoulder.

  I groaned and forced myself away from the mirror. I’d dressed the wound without looking at it, dreamy and dazed, thinking of Drake like he was my prince charming. He must find me so contemptible, falling for him so easily. No, he didn’t. He liked me falling for him. He’d intended it from the first moment we’d met. Waffles? He thought I could be soothed with waffles? Pitch would take his waffles and choke him with them. What would she do? She would do whatever I wanted her to do. I mean, she would hurt whoever I wanted her to hurt, plus others as bonus. And me, of course.

  I pulled the cloak around my shoulders and left the bathroom. I passed a few mages on my way to the main hall, Rosewood mages. Drake had been standing there, shirtless, showing all the other mages who he belonged to. What was wrong with him? Where was his sense of shame?

  Of course, he hadn’t had any shame when he’d sung so ear-shatteringly badly in the performance. Maybe he was simply shameless. Mages were supposed to be.

  I needed stink repellent to keep Drake away fro
m me. I needed more than that. I needed so much more than that. I needed a weasel guardian. I reached back, under my hair, but I’d left Señor safely at home.

  My fingers found their way to the bandage covering his initials and I was right back in that closet with his lips against my skin, his breath skittering over me… I was really falling. Out of control. Completely under his spell with or without this new complication. Love was its own prison. Even without Harbor’s regret, if that was real, I was far too addicted to Drake.

  I turned the corner into the main hall and stumbled over a shadow that was apparently holding a mage. I flinched away from his touch and didn’t even look at him. Drake was right. That mage’s touch, even through the silk cloak, made my skin crawl.

  “I’m sorry,” I mumbled as I continued on my way, pulling up my hood and drawing the front together over the minimal bodice of Witley’s remade gown. I should go to my room, concoct a poison that would make Drake regret what he’d done, but instead, I was going out in the cold, icy night to huddle with a bunch of crazed fans and ogle my love.

  My love.

  I felt a wrench of nausea in my stomach, but there was nothing to do about it. When I passed a mirror, I stared at the girl looking back at me. She honestly looked like a macaroon, a sweet, innocent, adorable little bon-bon who would never tie someone up in the woods, or beg someone to cut her in a closet somewhere. After all of that, we hadn’t broken the rules, except for the only kissing once a week thing, but he said it was a holiday in Pisa. And he’d sent me pizza. My stomach was still tied in knots and my arms felt heavy, like they didn’t know how to hold themselves up by themselves. I needed Drake to walk around holding my arms up for me. Pressing me against walls.

  I scowled at myself, but I didn’t have the heart for it. I just looked cute and a little bit petulant with all that hair and those big eyes. Why were my eyes so big? Probably still shocked by the closet, by the name carved into my shoulder.

  I shook my head and continued on, flashes filling the night once I stepped off the last wide cement step that led into the field beyond the tourney. Flares went off while laughter echoed through the cold, laughter and bickering, as so many people careened around in their dark cloaks. No one had their faces covered, so I didn’t either, just kept my hood up and my hair tucked in.