Academy of the Elites: Unbound Magic

by Alexis Calder

  “Don’t tell me she’s…” I covered my mouth with my hand and my throat tightened. I couldn’t even finish the sentence.

  “She’s in the hospital but it doesn’t look good,” Megan said. “She was totally drained of blood.”

  “Oh my god,” I said. “Who does that?”

  Megan shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “It’s worse, though,” someone said.

  I looked over to see Delores staring down at me. “The attacker was fae. Which means it was you or that new professor.”

  “What? How do you know it was a fae?” I asked, ignoring her threat against me. I knew I didn’t attack Violet and I was pretty sure it wasn’t the new professor. But Violet was my friend and the fae who threatened me warned me not to tell anyone.

  “There were traces of magic on her from the blood draining spell,” Delores said. “And we all know how Luka’s mom feels about vamps.”

  I stood, anger replacing my initial shock. “I would never hurt a friend so whatever you’re implying you might want to stop.”

  “Or what? You going to use some of that fae magic on me? You know, they should send you back to your realm where you belong,” she said.

  Anger surged through, blurring my vision and without thinking it through, I pulled my arm back and punched Delores in the face.

  She wasn’t expecting it and I landed a blow so hard, it sent shooting pain through my hand. Delores’s head turned with the impact and she flew backward until she hit the lockers behind her.

  I shook my hand out and took a step back, ready for her to retaliate. She pushed herself from the lockers and blinked at me a few times, looking dazed for a second. Then she bared her teeth. “You want to play, little fae?”

  I braced for impact, ready to punch her again no matter how hard my hand hurt. She came at me, screaming as she charged me, her fingers curved like claws.

  I slid to the side, forcing her to change positions. Her fingernails made contact with my cheek and she scratched the side of my face. It stung like hell but only made me angrier.

  Heat rose inside and suddenly my hands were on fire. “You want to mess with me, Delores? You already tried to kill me once. If I was going to harm someone it would be you, not my friend Violet.”

  Delores stopped in her tracks, her shoulders moving up and down with her heavy breaths. “You want to play dirty?”

  “Come at me, bitch,” I said, holding my hands in front of me.

  She lifted her hands and I heard popping and groaning sounds. Then, water came spraying in from the showers in a stream, guided by her hand movements.

  Screaming surrounded me and I was vaguely aware of the other girls in the locker room running from our fight.

  I was soaked and my fire went out. Hands still smoking, I charged her. My shoes squished over the wet floor but all I could think about was taking her down.

  A body check later and she was on the ground in the puddle of water she’d created. I punched her in the face again, this time, hitting her lip. She licked the blood and her nostrils flared. He sea green eyes glowed, turning bright green and she started to sing.

  “Cover your ears,” someone called.

  I climbed off her and slammed my hands over my ears. It almost blocked out the sound of her voice, but it was so loud I could still hear it. It was unearthly and ethereal. I had to fight against the urge to hear it. I could feel my will power breaking with each heartbeat. I had to get away from her.

  Desperate, I turned and headed toward the nearest door. It opened from the other side before I got there and Coach Miller filled the doorframe. “What the hell is going on in here?”

  The singing stopped and I dropped my hands. I was soaking wet and my shirt was torn, though I couldn’t remember how it happened.

  Delores was bleeding and dripping. Both of us were panting.

  “Confinement, both of you,” he said.

  9

  Raven

  I sat against the white wall staring at Delores. The room they threw us in was totally empty. It wasn’t a replica of the last time I’d been here. Same white walls, and bare floor. Same blinding florescent lights. Same feel of utter dread seeping into my bones. But this time I was in a larger room and this time, I had company.

  I could have done without the company.

  Delores had her knees pulled up against her chest, her arms wrapped around them. Her chin rested on her knees and she was glaring at me with her sea green eyes. “This is your fault you know.”

  I leaned my head against the wall. The real torture of being in here was having to spend time out with the girl I’d tried to knock out.

  “We wouldn’t be here if you just stayed in your place like you should,” she said.

  I lifted my head and stared at her, my brows furrowed. “In my place?”

  “You don’t belong here, we both know that,” she said. “You’re nobody. You didn’t spend your whole life being groomed to come to this school. You didn’t have to outshine all the other kids or earn the best test scores. Shit, you didn’t even know how to cast a spell when you got here.”

  “That’s what this is all about?” I asked. “That I’m not good enough for your school?”

  “You’re not,” she said. “You shouldn’t be here. It threw everything off. Years of hard work and planning.”

  “Years of planning what, exactly?” I asked. “Because last I checked, the thing you’re the most mad about was that I got the guy.”

  She scoffed. “You got all the guys. Not just one. You took the four most eligible bachelors and claimed them all. I’m still not even sure how you pulled it off.”

  “We have a bond,” I said, though I wasn’t sure why I was bothering to explain anything. I didn’t owe her a thing. “It wasn’t planned.”

  “Right,” she said. “You just happened to bond with those specific men.”

  I sighed. “You know, I don’t care what you think.”

  “I should be impressed,” she said. “I can’t even pull off that kind of scam and I’m a siren. My power is literally to entrap men.”

  I laughed. I knew she meant it as an insult, but it struck me as amusing. How often had I been completely overwhelmed by the fact that I had four mates? The idea was impossible to wrap my head around at first. Yet, now that they were mine, it was the only way I could imagine my life. I was part of each of them and they were all a part of me.

  It was beyond magic or enchantments. Our connection was something else that was so much deeper. Like our souls connected. We were impossible to separate.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked.

  “You,” I said. “How you actually think I went around trying to find a way to convince each of these intelligent, powerful men to follow me around or something. As if I could train them. You know them better than that. You know they’re all smarter than that. Even your enchantments would wear off eventually.”

  She set her forehead down on her knees, hiding her face. Apparently, the conversation was over.

  I stood, feeling suddenly too restless to sit. Our prison had a single door. White with a small window and a silver door handle. I walked over to it and stood on my tiptoes to peek out the small square window. Beyond our room, I could see the white hallway and an identical door across from us.

  There weren’t any signs of other people around, though. I lowered back to my feet and let out a sigh. How long were they going to keep us in here, anyway?

  I ran a hand through my hair and started pacing the room. I wondered what was going on out in the school without me. Did all my mates already know I was here? Had any of them found out about Violet?

  I stopped walking, suddenly terrified.

  What if they went to Dr. Green? What if they told someone?

  It was obvious that the fae who was threatening me was the one who had hurt Violet. Had he seen her and I talking during gym class before I walked into the locker room?

  I walked over to Delores and kicked her shoe.
>
  She looked up at me with a snarl. “What?”

  “Tell me what you know about Violet,” I said. “And none of your bullshit accusations this time. You know damn well she’s my friend and that I’d never hurt her.”

  Delores looked up at me, her expression hard. There was a lot of bad blood between us but none of it came from me and she knew it. I waited, keeping my eyes locked on her. I wasn’t going to let her get away with silence.

  After what felt like minutes, she rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. “Fine. I know you probably didn’t hurt Violet.”

  “Definitely didn’t hurt her,” I corrected, though a wave of guilt washed through me knowing that I was still responsible. There was no way I’d tell that to Delores, though. And honestly, it was more about not getting anyone else hurt. That fae wasn’t messing around and I had no idea what he was capable of. For all I knew he was listening to me right now.

  I shivered, the thought unnerving. I had no idea what I was going to do about him but right now I was more concerned about Violet. “Is she going to be okay?”

  Delores’s brow furrowed. “You actually do care about someone other than yourself.”

  “I care about a lot of people,” I said. “Spill.”

  “You pretty much know what I know. She was drained of blood, which as I’m sure you can guess isn’t a good thing for a vampire,” she said.

  “I’m pretty sure that’s not a good thing for anyone,” I added.

  “Touché,” she said. “But it’s especially dangerous for a vampire and incredibly painful as it can take days or even months for them to die from it.”

  “Why would someone do that?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s usually something that’s done in torture situations. To try to get someone to talk.”

  Ice seemed to flow through my veins. Had that fae tortured Violet? What could he possibly have thought she’d know? Then my mind whirred right to my mates. There had to be torture methods for every supernatural that I wasn’t aware of. Ways of exploiting weaknesses. Was he going after them next?

  I turned away from Delores and scrubbed my face with my hand. I fucked up. Instead of keeping my cool and being the bigger person, I’d lost my temper and ended up in here where I can’t help anyone. For all I knew, the fae was out there picking off my mates one at a time.

  That can’t happen. I cannot be stuck down here. I turned back to Delores. “We have to get out of here.”

  “Tell me about it,” she said. “I can barely even feel my magic anymore and I have no interest in dying any time soon.”

  I’d almost forgotten about the deaths that were tied to time spent in confinement and here I was on round two. Well, that was another bit of disturbing information to add to my list of issues.

  “You’ve been here longer,” I said. “Any ideas on what we have to do to get out? Is it like a timed thing or is it just up to Coach Miller?”

  She shrugged. “Unlike you, I’ve never been here. How’d you get out last time.”

  “A fae with a stolen face tried to kill me and they let me out after that,” I said. “I wouldn’t recommend we duplicate that.”

  “Fair,” Delores said. “So all that shit is true? All that talk about you and the fae and the portal and everything?”

  I wasn’t in the mood to rehash my past but another peek out the window told me we weren’t likely to get out anytime soon. The hallway was still empty. Not a sign of life anywhere.

  I walked back to my spot against the wall and slid down to the floor. “What do you want to know?”

  She cocked an eyebrow. “We’re going to be here a while, why not start at the beginning?”

  “Which beginning? How I accidently murdered two dudes and wound up in here or how the fae tried to kill me and steal my magic?”

  “Shit, Raven,” Delores said. “You really killed two guys?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “But they deserved it.”

  “I’m sure,” she said. “What did they do, try to steal your lunch money?”

  I laughed even though there was nothing funny about it. “Well, they had me pinned against a wall with a gun to my throat. I didn’t ask them their exact plans, but considering I tried to hand over my purse and they didn’t take it I don’t think it was going to end well for me.”

  She was silent for a moment and I wondered if the conversation was over.

  “I had no idea,” she said. “I assumed you just pulled strings with the Obscuras to get in here.”

  “They’re paying my tuition,” I blurted out, though I wasn’t sure why I said it. “My parents were killed by the time thief that tried to kill me and I guess my mom and Ms. Obscura were friends. So there’s that.”

  “Okay, back up,” she said. “So the time thief was after you but she offed your parents first?”

  I nodded. “Apparently she wanted more time magic and since that’s my hidden talent, she came after me.”

  “So you didn’t just make all this up to get on the Obsucra family’s good side?” she asked.

  My brows pulled together as I studied her expression. She looked like she was serious. “Why would I do that?”

  “Just something I heard,” she said.

  “Well, then,” I said. It suddenly made more sense as to why she hated me. “I don’t know where you’re getting your gossip, but they suck.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, maybe.”

  The door opened and we both turned to see Dr. Green standing in the doorway. He was frowning down at us. “Delores, back to your classes. Raven, we need to talk.”

  Delores didn’t need to be told twice. She was on her feet and out the door without even saying goodbye. I wasn’t sure, but something told me I’d see less issue from her from now on. Assuming I survived my next encounter with the fae.

  Dr. Green stood in the doorway, as if he didn’t want to enter the room. I didn’t blame him. I could feel it muting my magic. It reminded me a little of what it was like in the dark room of the library. No magic at all with whatever that fae had done.

  “I know you heard about Violet,” Dr. Green said.

  “How is she?” I asked.

  “She’s going to make it,” he said. “But that’s not why I bring it up.”

  I waited, wondering if he’d seen the attacker. Maybe this was good news. Maybe he’d caught the fae who attacked her.

  “I have to ask you, do you know anything about her attack?” he stared at me, unblinking.

  I tensed, unsure of what to say. I wasn’t prepared for this. This morning, I was set on telling him everything and now that I have the chance, I can’t. I know that Violet was a warning. If I tell him, someone else is going to be hurt. Because I can’t give the fae the book so I have to buy myself some time.

  “I have no idea,” I said.

  His face fell a little, disappointment showing in his expression. It broke my heart. I’d come to trust and respect Dr. Green and I hated that I couldn’t be honest with him.

  “Very well,” he said. “Go back to class. No more fighting.”

  I nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

  He stepped away from the doorway and waited in the hall. I walked past him and without looking back, headed away from him. I needed to figure out something fast before anyone else got hurt. Only this time, I was going to have to do it alone.

  10

  Raven

  The bell rang just when I made my way into the main hallway and I was surrounded by students all moving at once. I grabbed someone’s shirt. “Hey, what period are we in?”

  The student, a red-head with her hair pulled into two low pigtails squinted at me as if I was speaking a different language.

  “I was in confinement,” I said. “What period are we in now?”

  She scrunched up her face and tugged her arm away from me as if my time in confinement might rub off on her. “Just finished lunch.”

  “Thank you,” I said, not waiting for her to respond.

  I pu
shed my way through the masses toward the cafeteria. It was already empty when I arrived. Fuck.

  I could either go to my next class or try to hunt down all my mates and Makayla to make sure they were all safe. Considering I just spent the last couple of hours in confinement, I figured I should probably go to class.

  That’s when I remembered that my backpack was in the locker room still. I frowned. I did not want to go back there right now.

  Worse, I realized my next class was supposed to be independent study with Professor Halifax. But Professor Halifax was currently in jail and there was a new fae here. And I was pretty sure she hated me already.

  For a moment, I stood near the doors to the cafeteria, contemplating just going back to my room. Could I get away with just saying I was sick? What would they do if I just spent the rest of the day in there alone?

  I ran a hand through my hair, feeling frustrated at the whole world. It wasn’t like it would fix anything. Going to my room just meant I’d overthink the whole situation and probably not come up with any solutions. And I’d likely still end up having to deal with my independent study tomorrow.

  None of my choices were good so I might as well get this over with. Hoping Professor Flora didn’t care that my backpack was MIA, I headed toward her classroom.

  As I neared her door, a familiar face greeted me. My heart fluttered and a rush of joy filled my chest. Matt was waiting outside of the Spellcasting room door. At least I knew one of them was safe. “I am so glad to see you.”

  He grabbed my hand as soon as I reached him and pulled me closer to him. “I heard you were in confinement. Are you okay?”

  My shoulders dropped at his concern. He looked really worried and I could feel his tension. It was heavy and dark.

  “I’m fine,” I said. “I wasn’t in there very long. I’m so glad you’re alright. Did you hear about Violet?”

  He nodded.

  Now it was my turn to have all of my emotions go to a dark and stormy place. “It was my fault. I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.”