“What?” he almost yells.
“Just put your legs over and trust me, that is, unless you want to get caught,” I reply, my foot tapping on the linoleum floor.
With a look of exasperation, Demetri does as he’s told, shifting Sage in his arms to keep his balance. When his legs are dangling out the window, I focus the phrenic mage on their combined form, wrapping that silver cloak around their bodies like any other object. The outline of their bodies begins to glow with it as I flick my fingers forward, shooting them out into the open air. Demetri yelps softly, as if he couldn’t help it.
Down, I think sternly, and to my surprise, the magic obeys. Floating them slowly down to the bushes below until Demetri’s feet touch the ground, safe and sound. He looks up at me, gesturing frantically for me to follow. I try to do the same thing to my body, cloaking it in magic, but my well sputters. I used it all up on them, not having fed enough from Demetri earlier to control much more than the door and their heavy bodies. The magic around the door begins to break apart, groaning, and I look back and forth frantically. There’s only one option if I don’t want to get caught.
“Damn, this is going to hurt,” I mutter before jumping out the window just as the door bursts open behind me.
The window slides shut as soon as I go through, most likely Alagan’s doing to hide the evidence. Demetri watches in horror as I drop like a sack of potatoes, my legs pounding into the ground beside him, one of them making an audible snapping sound on impact. I shove my hand into my mouth to muffle the scream of pain as I push him forward, limping pitifully behind him toward the busy street beyond.
“Go, go, go!” I shout, my voice cracking.
Tsk. Tsk. Tsk, Elise. You’re certainly brave, but you know nothing about being a delphic mage. I could teach you, help you train.
I grit my teeth against both the unbearable pain in my leg and his words. I’ll never let you train me, you’re killing those kids.
Killing them? No, I’m helping them.
The link between us severs, and his inky presence slithers out of my mind, leaving confusion to fill my chest as the academy gate comes into view. We stumble through it, and Demetri takes a sharp left toward the second year dorms. My hand is yanked with him, forcing me to turn, and I’m gripping onto his shirt so hard that I’m stretching it out at the collar, surely choking him at the same time. But he doesn’t complain.
He starts up the stairs of the second year building, but I collapse at the bottom, no longer able to continue on. When I look down at my ruined leg, a strangled moan comes out of my mouth. Right in the middle of my calf the bone is bent at an absurd angle and sticking out of the skin, the wound slowly leaking blood. Demetri turns back, his face full of desperation. He looks between Sage’s limp body and my ruined one, indecision clouding his expression.
“Go, take her inside. I’ll wait here, it’s not like I’m going to die,” I gasp out.
He nods before rushing through the doors. Silence descends over me, and I count the seconds until he comes back, trying to distract myself. The pain lashing through my blood like fire makes every inch of me tremble. I’ve never been injured like this before, not this badly. It puts healing images into a whole new perspective for me, as I wish for nothing more than one to stroll up to me right now. Just as that thought leaves my brain, footsteps echo from around the side of the building, several sets of them. I slide myself further behind the pillar next to the stairs, hoping that I’m not visible.
“Dude, where’d all that blood come from?” asks an unfamiliar male voice.
Damn, I didn’t think about the blood trail.
Another person answers, this one much more familiar. “I don’t know. . . Oh shit!”
I lift my eyes to Aden, giving him a half smile, half grimace. “Hey, mind helping me inside?”
The group of third year elementals around him gape at me, their eyes glued to the nasty break. Aden scoops me up without any further questions and strides up the stairs, his eyes frequently glancing at my face. But he looks more angry than worried.
“Who the hell did this to you?” he asks as we run into Demetri at the doors.
His eyes fill with barely concealed rage for less than a second, but it was there. Is he jealous that Aden is carrying me? My brain latches onto the thought, trying to distract myself from the pain. Demetri gestures for him to follow as he stalks up the stairs toward the third level.
“No one, I jumped out a second story window,” I confess, not looking at him.
His eyes burn into the side of my head. “You jumped out a window,” he says flatly.
“Yes?” I reply, finally looking him in the eye.
It wasn’t a wise decision. He looks positively pissed.
“Why?” he grinds out.
Before I can reply Demetri opens up his door, revealing a flopped down passed out Sage lying half on and half off of the couch. It looks like he literally tossed her across the room and onto the couch. My eyes slide to Demetri and he cringes at the look on my face. Aden spots her too, and his frown deepens. Yeah, this situation is looking a little strange. Demetri turns into his room and I spot Allison lounging on his unmade bed, inspecting her perfect red nails. Okay scratch that, more than a little strange. I must be hallucinating. Her eyes lift to us before snapping to my injured leg. She barely flinches, and a small flash of respect for her shoots through me.
“Lay her down here, move Allison,” Demetri barks. She does as she’s told, but with a bitchy look on her face. “She’s a healer, Elise. Is it okay if she takes a look?” he asks as Aden lies me down on the bed.
Demetri’s scent overwhelms my senses, calming me instantly, and I have to stop myself from turning my head into the pillows. But then his words register. Allison of all people I’ve met here at the academy is a destined healer. If that isn’t laughable I don’t know what is.
“Uh, sure,” I reply, looking her over with an uneasy expression on my face.
“Don’t worry, I won’t do anymore damage,” she sneers before stalking forward.
Aden sinks down onto the bed next to me, bowing it with his massive frame. The top half of my exhausted body rolls into him, and he steadies me against his side. Demetri sits down on my other side, taking my trembling hand between his. Them sitting down jostles the bed, and Allison gives them a stare that could murder someone from afar, forcing them to still.
Her hands hover over my leg, and her hands begin to hum with a magic so purely white that I’m forced to look away. So this is the magic of a healer, and a powerful one at that. So she’s popular because she’s strong and beautiful. Damn. I was hoping it was because she’s a tall blonde bimbo of a girl, if only because she’s been a bitch to me since day one. A burning sensation begins to climb up the limb, and I grit my teeth as darkness clouds the edges of my vision. I let it come, hoping that I’ll pass out before the pain forces me to cry out.
“You’ll be okay,” Allison says in a surprisingly comforting tone, her voice sounding far away.
“I think she’s passing out. Is that a bad sign?” Demetri worries aloud. Numbly, I feel his hand grip my own more tightly.
“No, her body has sustained a large amount of trauma, and her magical well feels severely depleted. She needs sleep. . .”
I lose the rest of what comes out of her mouth, my mind tumbling into the dark.
Chapter Seventeen
I wake several hours later to the sound of deep voices arguing above me. Each low vibrato pounds against my already aching head, forcing my eyes open. Both of the boys are standing at the end of the bed, their faces flushed with anger. Aden is whisper yelling at Demetri, his arms flailing in the air.
“Tell me what the hell is going on here, or I’ll report you to the board,” he demands.
“Like hell you will. I swear to god, Prescott, I'll kill you before you can take a single step.”
Aden steps forward threateningly, earth magic misting around his fingers. “I’d like to see you try.”
Before the testosterone can get any more suffocating, I intervene, “Go argue somewhere else.”
They both swing toward the bed as I sit up to inspect my now perfectly healthy left leg. The only indication of there ever being a wound being a slight pinkness to the new skin. I’d have to thank Allison for such a perfect heal. Even the thought of thanking that demon of a girl makes me gag. Speaking of the devil, my eyes focus on her form as she leans against the door jam.
“I’d like to know what’s going on as well,” she drawls.
My skin tightens at the thought of telling Allison about being a delphic mage. I’d rather let Alagan teach me magic than reveal my well-kept secret to her. That’s how little I trust this girl. Demetri turns to me, giving me a look that portrays everything he doesn’t say. It’s my call whether or not we let them into the circle.
I sigh. “Pull up some chairs, this might take a while.” They do as they’re told, Allison looking less than pleased at having been ordered to do something by me. “Alright, here it goes. When I first came to the academy I was assigned to Professor Jacobsen’s class for phrenic mages. Ever since I first met him I got this weird vibe from him, almost sinister. At first I just thought it was because he’s young and flirts with the girls a lot, which isn’t great, but it’s harmless.”
“Please don’t tell me this story is going to end with you having sex with the professor, almost getting caught, and jumping out a window,” Allison says, deadpan.
Aden’s eyes widen, and I almost growl. “Would you shut the hell up for once in your life and listen? Would that be so hard for you?” She scowls, but keeps her mouth shut, so I continue. “He’s been. . . Egging me on for some time now, talking to me in my mind. It wasn’t until he told me to stay inside the night before the poisonings that I put it all together.”
Aden sits back, whistling through his teeth. “He’s the one behind them. Why haven’t you told anyone?”
I bite my lip, and Demetri cuts in. “We don’t have any solid evidence. That’s why we went to the hospital today to see the patients, well, snuck in is more like it.”
Allison snorts. “So that’s why you asked me to borrow some scrubs.”
I roll my eyes. “Yes, and we went because Sage is an oracle. She was told that physically touching someone might help her to see things, and she did, but then she passed out. After that a bunch of teachers showed up, and Demetri sealed the door to give us time to leave out the window. He had enough magic to get the two of them out, but the door burst open from Alagan busting through, so I had to jump.”
“Hence the broken leg,” Aden murmurs.
“Yep,” I reply, fidgeting as Allison looks at Demetri, impressed by the story.
He averts his eyes, trying not to give my lie away. He hadn’t done any of that, maybe isn’t even capable of it. The only way I came up with it was because of Alagan, no matter how much it pains me to admit it.
Her eyes shift to me. “So you’re hoping that when Sage wakes up she has some sort of evidence?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Alright, well, I’ll wait with you too,” she replies, pulling out her phone.
“Me too,” says Aden.
“What? Why? Don’t you think it’s dangerous to get involved with us? With professor Jacobsen, if he really is a murderer?” I ask.
The two of them exchange a look as if they’re completely done with me. Aden sits forward. “If you’re willing to risk your lives to save a lot of others, we are too.”
I sit back against the headboard, his honesty flooring me. He wants to help just as much as Demetri and Sage do. And Allison. . . I never would have guessed that she actually has a good heart. Well, at least when it comes to anyone other than me. Speaking of that, I raise my eyes to her, but she ignores me, still looking down at her phone. I grit my teeth before clearing my throat. She finally glances up, an annoyed look on her face.
“Thank you for healing me,” I grind out.
Her lips turn up in a cruel smile. “That must have physically hurt you to say.”
“Yes, it did.”
Aden chuckles at the tension between us as I swing my legs onto the floor before testing the previously injured one. The bone feels sore, fragile, but still whole. Demetri wraps his arm around my waist as I stand, anticipating the amount of help I’d need before I even realized it. He walks with me into the living room where Sage is still sprawled across the couch, a knit blanket now lying across her limp body.
“When do you think she’ll wake up?” I ask as he helps me to sit next to her.
I brush her hair out of her face, and she seems peaceful. Not in any pain. So, hopefully what she saw wasn’t too traumatizing. I’m hoping that we won’t have to utilize her gift too often until she’s fully trained. The more it happens, the more risk there is of insanity, and I don’t want to risk it. Even if she’d be willing to.
“She should be coming to any minute now,” Allison says.
Someone knocks on the door, and my head whips toward it. Demetri stands, letting his fingers trail down my arm as he does. “It’s just take out Chinese food, don’t worry.”
Sage blinks open her eyes and they’re back to that beautiful shade of hazel, no longer filled with a darkness so consuming that it ate the light around it. “Did someone say Chinese?” she croaks.
Even Allison laughs at that.
“Yes, Demetri will plate you some, but first drink some water.”
She pushes herself up against the back of the couch before looking around. Her eyes widen at the sight of Allison in the bedroom doorway, but she doesn’t say a thing as she takes the glass offered to her. She must have a lot of questions, but first I have some for her.
“Hey, can you talk about what you saw?” I ask gently.
Her eyes flash that dark shade before she looks back at me, a haunted look on her face. “Only part of it. The students will die, but they will rise again, stronger than before. And this isn’t the first time that Professor Jacobsen has done this, but it is the first time he’s attempted it on campus.”
A chill swirls around the room at her words. “So what does that mean exactly?”
Sage looks at all of us, catching our eyes one by one. “He’s building an army, Elise. One that only takes orders from people like him. When the poison kills it takes the soul with it, and any trace of who the person once was. Whatever it is that comes back to life isn’t natural, it’s only a vessel of power.”
The room is silent until Demetri hands Sage and me a plate, but I set mine the coffee table. There’s no way that I can eat after hearing what he’s doing to people. To students, now. My stomach churns at the thought of those kids, what their bodies looked like, where their souls will go when their vessels are technically still alive. Allison and Aden take a seat across from us, squeezing into the love seat together with plates of food.
Demetri finally comes into the sitting room with his own food, a thoughtful expression along his features. “Okay, that’s terrible, but why escalate now? It sounds like he’s been doing this in the shadows for a long while. So if he’s suddenly and very publicly taking the lives of students, his timeline must have accelerated.”
Sage nods gravely. “Yes, it did. There’s a dark prophecy that he’s following, one that the current grand council dismissed as the ravings of an insane oracle.” She pauses to give me an apologetic look. “I don’t know the prophecy, but I do know the outcome, but that’s the part I can’t tell you. All I know is that it involves a dark king and queen rising up to take back the world, to conquer it together.”
Irritation spikes in my chest, but I brush it aside. If Sage, the oracle, says we shouldn’t know, then we shouldn’t know. “Okay, then what can you tell us?”
We all lean in as she looks down, pushing around a half-eaten egg roll with her fork. “Professor Jacobsen is a delphic mage, Elise. And he’s convinced that he’s the dark king that the prophecy mentions.”
My blood runs cold at the informat
ion, but at the same time I’m not surprised. I should have guessed it by now, should have realized just how he could have figured me out so quickly. He and I are the same, at least in blood. Hopefully not in mind. Even the notion makes me shiver with disgust.
Demetri watches my reaction before turning to Sage. “Okay, but that doesn’t explain him putting his foot on the gas of his plan.”
She takes a deep breath before raising her eyes to mine again, her face grim. “He believes he found the dark queen, his dark queen.”
“Who is it?” Aden breathes, hanging on her very word.
Allison leans in too, despite trying to keep an uninterested expression on her face. Sage looks at them then, realizing too late that I had done everything in my power not to tell them about what I am. But I don’t blame her for it as I close my eyes, fear for myself and everyone around me filling my chest. I open my mouth several times to say something, anything, reassuring. But all I can manage is one word, one damning word.
“Me.”
Chapter Eighteen
I burst out of the dorm, storming down the front stairs with the others hot on my heels. They’re all yelling various warnings at me, but I wave them off, still striding toward the third year dorms where I know Alagan will be in his office. He will explain himself to me. Even if he’s certifiable.
Several times on the way over there Aden or Demetri tried to stop me, especially Demetri. He knows that I’m drained which means I’m practically powerless. But I shake everyone off and wave away their concern. I’m not going to let Alagan control me like this, and most certainly not my friends. I’m about to climb the front stairs of the building when Demetri grips my arm, ripping me around toward my new small circle of friends. And yes, at this point I suppose I can call Allison a friend, or at least an annoying acquaintance.
“You can’t go storming in there. What do you expect to do?”
My eyes narrow. “Correction, you guys can’t go storming in there. He doesn’t know about you.”
“How can you be so sure?” Sage demands, hands on her hips.
A Charmed Mind: Mage Paranormal Romance (Illusions Academy Book 1) Page 13