“Alora Mattis,” said Gen, barely flinching as she walked through the ghost. “You’re charged with treason, endangering wards, and attempted murder. The punishment is death, and it shall be meted out here and now.”
“Stop!” screamed Ben. “Please! She… she was only… Somebody, please! Speak for her. Help her!”
Ben’s eyes settled on Lee, lingering for long enough to confirm that he could, in fact, see him. Ben ran at Lee and he stupidly pulled him into his mystic stream. He wasn’t sure why he did it. The last thing he needed was for Ben to attack him in desperation.
That wasn’t what happened, however. He fell to his knees in front of Lee, sobbing at his feet. Punching the sand. Expressing himself in the only way a man like him knew how to after fucking it all up.
“Hold on,” called Lee. “We can… bring her back with us. She might have information, and the charges you listed might not all be valid.”
A curious smile played across Gen’s lips. She wasn’t as old as Lee had originally thought, perhaps no more than a decade older, or even less, than Harper. There was a hint of flirtation as she lifted an eyebrow at him that felt totally out of place in the midst of a battle.
“To think that you, of all people, would speak for her,” said Gen. “I can’t tell if it’s a sign of how well Harper has taught you, or how poorly.”
She brought the sabre up and down in a single cleaving strike. A practiced, casual movement, like a butcher cutting a piece of meat in half. That was all it took. Mattis fell forward across the sand, head now separate from body, blood spilling out and pooling in a place where the surf would struggle to wash it away.
Ben let out a horrible sound, an unbearable, gagging sob. Lee ran a hand through his hair, feeling on the verge of tears himself. Mattis had been a traitor, that much was undeniable. Her crimes had affected him directly, stolen his memories and nearly a month of his life.
What was her real crime? What was it she’d done to earn the full weight of execution? She’d been complicit in Gabby’s murder, and she’d helped set Kei up to be converted into a lycanthrope against his will. Even those, combined with forcing Lee to undergo the Cropping, seemed to pale in comparison to what he thought was the real reason why Gen had dispersed her expedited brand of justice.
Mattis had seen in shades of grey in a world of black and white. She’d made hard decision after hard decision, done her best to find a way forward that didn’t sacrifice her beliefs and her love. Lee thought of her when she’d attacked Ben, attacked and killed the man she’d married and loved. Would he have been able to do that in her place?
Who would it be, in his case? Zoe? Harper? Tess…
The lycanthropes were retreating, three of them carrying Bryan between them, unpursued by Gen. Most of the initiates were already on the bus. Lee started to climb in through the emergency door when he saw something both unexpected and incredibly unlikely.
A second ghost was born on the beach that night. Mattis’s spirit slowly pulled loose from her dismembered body, ethereal chin held high and unrepentant. It took Ben’s ghost a few seconds to notice, as he was still on his knees, cursing the world.
Mattis and Ben ran at each other and embraced in the moonlight, finding in death what had eluded them in life. They held each other, and slowly began to fade into ambient essence. Most ghosts were like that, lingering only long enough to fulfill whatever need or desire had held them to the mortal world to begin with.
“It’s so sad,” muttered Tess. “But so… beautiful.”
He looked over at her. She was crying, and for some reason, Lee smiled at that. She glared at him through her tears. Lee pulled her into both his mystic stream and a tight embrace, as though the closeness of her body could mend his own emotional ache.
In a way, it did.
CHAPTER 42
The bus made haste for the first few minutes of their journey before slowing down and adopting a normal speed. A graduate mage that Lee didn’t recognize was at the wheel.
Only a few initiates were sitting around him in the front half of the bus. Most were in back, having their injuries tended to, or at least acknowledged. Susie repeatedly announced to some of the more panicked initiates that yes, she did have herbal treatments available for lycanthrope bites, and yes, they actually worked, if applied early enough.
Tess was sitting next to Lee, not saying much. He imagined two ghosts, two of her own under such tragic circumstances, had given her something to think about. He was about to pull her into his mystic stream again when she slid over to the seat across from him.
An instant later, Harper collapsed into the spot Tess had vacated. She had blood on her robes, though he suspected it was from injured students rather than dying lycanthropes. None of the students had died. He tried to manage a smile as he appreciated that fact, but didn’t quite get there.
“Are you injured?” asked Harper.
“I’m fine.”
She nodded slowly. “I noticed some of the defensive measures you’d set up. I assume that was your doing?”
“My ideas, but everyone helped out.” He shook his head at her. “Why the hell did you think it made sense to leave Eliza in your place without telling me? Do you have any idea how things would have ended if I hadn’t figured out that it was her, under an illusion veil?”
The side of Harper’s mouth quirked upward. “I knew you’d figure it out. In fact, I doubt it took you more than a couple of hours, given how the two of us interact with each other.”
“She lasted less than ten minutes.”
Harper snorted. Neither of them said anything for a minute. Gen walked up the aisle, toward the front of the bus, wiping a red-stained rag along the length of Savoire Solaire. Lee felt his jaw clench. He started to stand up without knowing why. Harper grabbed his hand, holding him where he was.
“She was a good woman, once,” she said quietly. “A woman who was forced to make a lot of hard choices, some of which changed her, affected how she saw the world.”
Lee squeezed her hand. “Are you talking about Gen, or are you talking about Mattis?”
Harper squeezed back. She looked like she wanted to answer, maybe even had one formed and ready, but just couldn’t quite get it out. He knew that feeling. He started to pull her into a hug, but somehow, he was the one who entered the embrace.
Harper ran a hand through his hair and kissed his forehead. Most of the other students were either still in the back of the bus or too tired to pay any attention to them. Their intimacy was open and brazen, and necessary.
“Get some sleep, Eldon,” she whispered.
The next two hours were almost dead silent, even as the bus entered the psychedelic dreamscape of the Arcane Way. As they came to a stop in the First Tower’s under level, and the bus door whooshed open, Lee could almost convince himself that they were just returning from a normal field trip. Arriving back to school, late at night, students tired, mildly homesick, thoroughly educated.
Head Wizard Odarin and a few instructors were waiting for them and immediately began helping the injured off the bus and onto gurneys for easy transport. Lee hadn’t seen anyone injured enough to quite justify that level of triage, and he felt somewhat envious of the initiates who were allowed to just lie down and be wheeled away. He just wanted to lie down and go to sleep.
He checked in with Toma and Eliza, mumbling a few words to ensure that they were both okay. Toma had taken a few bites in the end, but nothing major. Eliza had a bruise across her hip that earned her a ride on one of the gurneys to the infirmary.
Lee was ushered toward the dormitories along with the other students who hadn’t been injured. He pushed his way into his old room, groaned, and collapsed into his bed, his real bed, for the first time in over a month.
Tess was there, stretching out alongside him as he pulled her into his mystic stream. She rested her head on his chest, and the weight was soft and familiar.
“Are you okay?” she whispered.
He sighed and l
aced his fingers through hers.
“Every step of the way I thought I was making the right choice. Why does it still feel like it all went so wrong?”
Tess shifted, sliding forward and bringing her face to meet his. She gave him a slow, tired kiss and then leaned her forehead against his. She didn’t answer his question, didn’t even try to, and he loved her for that, among other things.
***
Lee headed straight for the infirmary the next morning. It was crowded, as expected, with all of the beds in the main area filled and several more makeshift ones set up in one of the Seruna Center’s adjacent lecture halls.
Eliza was sitting next to Toma’s bed, reading a textbook. She stood up sharply and ran over to Lee when she saw him, pulling him into a tight hug.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said.
“Are you okay? How is your bruise?”
Eliza shrugged. “It’s still sore, but Nurse Susie gave me a salve that’s been helping.”
“Toma?”
“He’s fine, now that his bite wounds have been treated,” she said. “He’s been in and out of sleep. Hasn’t said much while he’s been awake.”
She kept her arms around him. Lee felt a stupid grin take up residence on his face as he stared into her eyes. He hadn’t realized just how worried he’d been for his friends, how the anxiety had sapped at his confidence.
“We’re back at Primhaven,” he said. “We can finally relax. Get back to our studies.”
“As though you’ll actually start studying.” Eliza grinned back at him, eyes fluttering.
“That’s where you come in,” he said. “I’ll have you as my tutor again.”
“Oh? Is that right?”
“In certain subjects.” He ran a hand down her back. “We’ll have to find somewhere nice and quiet, so we can stay focused.”
“I’m going to actually, um, hold you to…” Eliza’s body melded into his as he cut her off with a kiss. It went on for probably longer than what was appropriate, given the other initiates that were around. He managed to reel himself in before his passions took complete reign, however.
Eliza let out a wistful sigh, still staring at him. “It’s because of you, just so you know.”
“What is?”
“The fact that we’re all here,” said Eliza. “The fact that nobody died, except… Mattis.” She winced. “I mean it, though. You saved us, Lee. With your ideas and your confidence.”
“I’m flattered, but I didn’t do it alone,” he said. “Instructor Harper was quite helpful, along with Toma, the other initiates, hell, even Kristoff.”
Tess cleared her throat from where she stood behind him.
“Not to mention a certain shared friend of ours,” he added.
A gleam danced across Eliza’s eyes. “Is she here right now?”
Lee took her hand and led her over to where Tess was standing, turning her by the shoulders so girl and ghost were face to face.
“Tell her to take out her notebook,” said Tess.
“Tess wants you to… ah.” He cut off, noticing that Eliza was already doing just that.
“I think I’ll go for a quick walk,” said Eliza, slowly stepping toward the door, leaving room for Tess alongside her. “Why don’t you have some boy time with Toma, once he wakes up?”
“Sure. I think it’s long overdue.”
Eliza and Tess left. They both leaned inward toward the notebook, already sharing messages with one another. Before Lee could take a seat next to Toma’s sleeping form, he heard a familiar voice purring his name.
“Eldon. Or do you go by Lee again, now?”
He turned around and grinned. Nurse Susie smiled as she approached him, her clean white robe straining against her perfect, generous curves with each hip-swaying step. Her pink hair was down, for once, the loose ends falling like dyed ribbons between her shoulders.
“You know, I think you’re the only woman in my life who’s ever actually asked which I prefer,” he said.
“Is that so?” She stepped in close to him, eyes flicking to Toma, confirming that he was still fast asleep. “Maybe I’ll call you one name in public and the other… when you draw it out of me.”
He’d forgotten what it was like to endure the brunt of a succubus’s aura. A brief glimpse of Susie’s true self, her red skin and demonic eyes, flashed through his vision. It wasn’t a long enough look to come anywhere close to dousing his growing arousal. He had to break eye contact with her and breathe slowly to pull that off.
“Are you back at Primhaven to stay?” he asked.
“It seems like it. I think it’s for the best, given all that the school has been through. What about you? It seems as though your memories have returned since we last spoke. Will you be a student here again?”
“It seems like it.” He grinned at her. “I guess I’ll be keeping your secret for a while longer.”
“Just as I’ll be keeping yours.” Susie stepped in closer, which made the weight of her seduction aura feel like the crescendo of a sex dream. “My lips are sealed, Lee Amaranth, at least when it comes to what you really are.”
“I’m… glad,” he managed.
“I’m so busy with all that’s happened.” She leaned forward even more, breath tickling his neck. “But when I get some free time, I’d really like… to blow off… some steam.”
“Okay,” he said, surprised he even had two solid syllables in him. It was hard to think about anything other than Susie’s luscious lips and the way just a hint of her cleavage showed below her neckline, like the tip of a massive mountain begging to be climbed.
She grinned at him. “It is really good to be back, isn’t it?”
He nodded. She kissed him on the cheek, which felt like a hot stamp of pure, illicit pleasure. Without another word, she turned and left, moving to tend to her other charges. Lee gasped as he collapsed into the chair next to Toma’s bed and adjusted his heavily tented pants.
CHAPTER 43
Toma was quiet when he finally woke up, and didn’t immediately seem to pay attention to his visitor.
“How are you feeling?” asked Lee.
“Eh.” Toma held up one of his arms, which was covered from wrist to elbow in bandages. “I’m alive. I guess that’s something.”
“All of the initiates are alive, and you’re no small part of that. I noticed you’ve been working on some new spells. Those alteration buffs had you running around like a juggernaut.”
He elbowed Toma in the shoulder, but his friend’s response was muted.
“Yeah,” said Toma. “If you can believe it, I’ve been training spells that are effective against lycanthropes specifically. Pretty lucky, I guess.”
Lee leaned back in his chair, sensing that his friend had more to say.
“You brought up helping me find Jenna the last time we talked,” he continued. “I like that idea. But first, I have to find him, Lee. My brother. I have to find Kei and deal with him… whatever that means. It would be cracked to just sit around and do nothing while he’s out there, running around like something out of a nightmare.”
“It might not be like that,” said Lee. “He might be, I don’t know, still working through it.”
“Will you help me, Lee?”
“Do you even have to ask that?” Lee reached out and clasped Toma’s hand. “You’re my best friend, Toma. You’re my brother. Of course I’ll help you.”
“Thank you.” Toma’s voice wavered a bit, and he looked away, clasping Lee’s hand tightly. “I really needed to know that you’d have my back on this.”
“I understand what you’re going through,” he said. “It’s tough, knowing that… someone in your family is dangerous, or in danger, or some combination of both.”
“It’s really fucking tough.” Toma chuckled and shook his head. “Anyway, we’ll have some time before then. Let’s get smashed at the Frostfire Tavern as soon as Nurse Susie lets me out of here.”
“Really? That’s the next stop on your
train of thought?”
“Hey, it’s a valid reaction after what we’ve been through,” said Toma.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m a month behind on my studies. I plan on getting Eliza to help me study.”
“Help you study, right. Is that what the kids are calling it now?”
“We’re just friends, I swear.”
“You’re so full of shit, Lee Amaranth,” chuckled Toma. “Though honestly, I think you do need to do some catching up. I saw you during the battle, and I didn’t see much new, spell-wise.”
“Hey, I held my own.”
“Is that going to be enough, given what we might be up against soon?”
Toma’s voice was light, but the question was still serious.
“I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve,” said Lee. “But you’re right. Harper told me that she wanted me back here at Primhaven, learning all that I can. I think you’ve both got a point.”
Toma nodded slowly. “But you’ll still get drunk with me at the tavern, right?”
“Of course. What are friends for?”
***
Harper was waiting for him outside his dorm. The wind was blowing in a gentle repeating pattern like an unseen master, forcing the grass and vegetation to bow. Harper’s golden braid swayed to the side each time before falling back down.
“Gen wants to see us,” she said as Lee approached her.
“She’s still here?”
Harper gave him a slow, thoughtful nod, seeming no more pleased about it than Lee felt. They walked side by side, heading back into the Seruna Center, and then into an unused lecture hall tucked away within one of the building’s corners. Gen had set up shop inside and was busy taking down notes at the instructor’s desk.
“Vice Magister Laughton,” said Harper.
Gen lifted her head, brushing a few strands of unruly red hair off her forehead. She didn’t react immediately, taking them both in with the same cold analysis she’d used to stare down the lycanthropes.
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