In that moment, I feel bad for whoever it is, because he looks like he’s ready to murder them when he finds out. I hope it’s Silas, that scumbag. He deserves it.
“Wake it up,” Darius says, bending to peer into the little demon’s sickly grey-green face.
Ryker mutters a spell, and a second later, the thing blinks its crusty eyes.
“Why are you here?” I demand when it begins to squirm in Rocco’s grip.
“Summoned,” the demonling chatters in a surprisingly high, whiny voice.
“We know that,” Ryker says.
“D-don’t hurt me,” the demonling stutters. “Was only doing job.”
“For who?” I ask.
“I know no names,” it says in its same sniveling voice.
“And you were summoned to kill me?” I ask.
“N-no,” it protests. “No killing. This demonling do only odd jobs.”
I narrow my eyes, checking the reactions of the sorcerers. They look convinced, but I’m not buying it.
“You attacked me,” I say. “And one of your kind attacked me a few months ago. Someone must be sending you.”
“Demonlings can’t lie,” Professor Darius murmurs, his hand grazing my back.
“Why are you here?” Ryker asks.
“Unlock magical item,” it stammers. “Channel energy.”
I straighten, seeing the understanding dawn in the eyes of the sorcerer’s at the same time I realize it. “My spork,” I say. “Someone here has Cleo.”
The demonling nods vigorously. “I never hurt humans,” it says. “Don’t hurt me.”
I still don’t know if I believe it, but Professor Darius nods. “We won’t hurt you. You’ve been a great help. Can you tell us anything about the person? What they look like? Where you went?”
“I go where summoned,” the demonling says. “All humans, they look alike.”
“Well, that’s just super,” I say, flopping into a chair. “Someone here has Cleo, but we can’t find them. And finals are coming next week, which means my magic will be at one level through the whole thing. How can I control that?”
Professor Darius puts a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll get you through this, Jade. We’ll find a way.”
“And what if you can’t?” I ask, looking up at him. “What if I fail my finals?”
Because everyone knows what happens to people who get kicked out of the Academy of Sorcery. You get assigned a job working for someone powerful who can siphon off your magic and use it for themselves so that you can’t hurt anyone with it. Since I already work for someone powerful who owns my contract for the next three decades, he’d definitely be the first person the Society of Supernaturals looks at if I flunk out of the Academy, which I’m sure to do without Cleo. And considering my magic and Silas’s morals, it looks like I’m about to start my career as a magical prostitute.
“It’s the Bellas,” I blurt out, unable to hold myself back. “It has to be them. That’s why they’re suddenly getting all this—male attention.” I finish speaking and wish I could swallow my words, take them back and say them when I’m alone with Darius. Now it looks like I’m this jealous fool, accusing the girls who took the attention of the hottest guys on campus away from me. Basically, I sound like a pathetic, jealous hag.
“You think we’re enchanted?” Ryker asks, fixing me with that glare that I was just pitying the recipient of.
“Don’t you think it’s funny that none of you liked them, and suddenly you’re all dating them?”
Neither of the guys answer. Ryker gives me a stormy glare, and Rocco crosses his arms and frowns at the floor.
“Thorn,” Professor Darius says.
The door cracks open, and Thorn sticks his head in from his position guarding the door. “Yes, Professor?”
“I want the Bellas’ rooms searched for Jade’s weapon,” he says. “Take Jade with you.”
I gape, shocked that he’s going along with my hunch, since I have nothing to go on. And there’s a little bit of guilt, too, because I’m not entirely convinced they’re to blame for the theft. But if there’s even a chance, then I have to take it. Not just to get my spork back, but to keep my magic from doing exactly what I said I would never do with it—seduce a guy against his will. Maybe I’m not the one doing it, but I’m not about to let someone else use my magic for evil, either. If that’s what’s going on, I have to put an end to it. I have to save my guys.
Chapter 21
“It has to be here,” I say, now feeling as desperate as I sound. I’ve convinced myself I can feel my magic up here in their dorm rooms, but after two rooms, we’ve found nothing.
“Want to strip search me, dyke?” Blonde Bella asks, sneering at me. The other two are standing against the wall in the hall, glaring like they want me dead.
“I’ll leave the strip searching to your boyfriend,” I say, shooting a resentful glance at Thorn.
“I’m not her boyfriend,” he mutters, lifting up Bella’s mattress. They’ve already used their magic to search the room, but they’re now searching by hand, since the spork has so many spells protecting her from detection.
Bella looks unconcerned about his denial. “Give me time,” she says with a smug smile.
At last, the guys come out of her room, as empty-handed as they were after the others. And now I’ve really pissed off the Bellas. If they only made fun of me before, now they hate me. Now they have a real reason to. And they’ll probably spread it all around campus, how I’m so jealous that I accused them and had their rooms torn apart because I can’t handle the fact that they got the guys and I didn’t.
I lean against the wall and close my eyes, massaging my temples.
“Let me walk you home.”
I open my eyes, surprised to find Rocco standing in front of me, only sympathy in his eyes.
I sigh. “Okay.”
“Don’t take too long,” Brunette Bella sings out, waving her fingers at Rocco. “I’ll be waiting.”
“Ugh,” I mutter, stomping down the hall. There’s really no reason Rocco needs to escort me to the next floor, but he falls into step beside me anyway.
“I’m sorry your spork is still missing,” he says.
I search for the joke in his eyes, but no smartass comment comes. “Thanks,” I mumbled, starting up the stairs.
“Do you want us to search that necromancer’s room?”
I think of how hurt Elowen was when I accused her, and I can’t bear the thought of hurting her more. I can only hope she’s doing okay and has made new friends. “No,” I say with a sigh. “I don’t think she’d take it.”
“You know, you have the magic,” Rocco says. “You’re the one with the power. That’s what matters.”
“Is it?” I ask, stopping outside my room. “Because it doesn’t feel like it.” I want to add that it doesn’t matter since he’s still going home with Bella, but I stop myself. I’m being a jealous bitch. They don’t have my spork. I saw it proven with my own eyes. Suddenly, all I want to do is sink into a warm bubble bath and forget this night ever happened.
“Whoever stole it, they might be using up what you stored in there, but you’re making more all the time,” Rocco says. “You have that power naturally, Jade. They don’t. All they have is a stolen item that’ll be useless once you’re not supplying it.”
“An item I need,” I say with a sigh. “But thanks for trying to make me feel better. I appreciate it.”
“I… I’m sorry I couldn’t handle it,” he says, avoiding my eyes. “Your magic. It’s too much for me.”
“It’s okay,” I say, unlocking my room and stepping inside. “Don’t feel bad, Rocco. It’s water under the bridge. You found someone you can handle, and I found someone who can handle me.”
His gaze snaps to mine, and his nostrils flare. “What? You did?”
I know I shouldn’t, but I smile at the flash of jealousy in him. “Goodnight, Rocco,” I say through the crack in my door, then pull it closed. Somehow, I feel bett
er knowing that he’s jealous, too.
*
All too soon, finals arrive. Since we couldn’t find Cleo, I turned my focus to training with Asher every spare second for the week leading up to the magical trials. It’s kinda nice to throw myself completely into something, not thinking about the gossip on campus about my accusation, or how much I miss Elowen and the guys. Our relationship might have started contentiously, but after a while, I got used to them. At least I still have Asher, because even Ryker seems uninterested in pushing me past my limits every day in swordplay, as if he’s given up on my future at the academy and realizes that making me better is a waste of time.
So, I focus on my finals. I may not have Cleo, but I’m not going down without a fight. If they boot me from the Academy, they’re going to have to drag me out kicking and screaming.
When the day arrives, I’m so nervous I can’t eat. As we reach the Great Hall, where we have to pass a series of trials as our finals, I stop Asher. I’m so nervous I’m shaking, but I’m as ready as I can be without Cleo.
“Hey, in case I don’t pass, will you go see Elowen and make sure she’s okay?” I ask. “I tried to text her wishing her luck, but she blocked me on her phone, and the House of Necromancy wouldn’t let me in to see her.”
“Girl, shut up,” Asher says. “You’re going to pass and tell her yourself.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I say. “But we both know I’m already getting a zero on my test for passing magic to my object. And anything else that takes finesse. I’ll just be blasting everything I have at each challenge.”
“Magic is magic,” he says. “That’s what they tell us in Wizardry class. You can focus it to do whatever you want. Yours just naturally comes out a certain way. You can change that, remember?”
“Yes,” I say, wiping my hands on my uniform skirt. “But you know it’s unlikely that I’ll pass. So just shut up and let me say this.”
Asher looks like he’ll protest again, but then he nods. “What’s up?”
“I just wanted to say that you’re the best friend I’ve ever had,” I say. “You saved me from that demonling.”
“You would have thrown it off,” Asher says with a shrug. “I just helped.”
“And you saved me from myself more times than I can count,” I say. “I would have beaten the Bellas asses so many times if not for you.”
“Hey, I was just trying to keep you from getting kicked out,” he says. “So let’s go keep that from happening today. Ready, partner?”
“Ready,” I say, grinning at him. I am ready. Now that I’ve gotten the mushy stuff out of the way, I’m ready to kick ass.
Inside, we find our way to the floor. Our first challenge is to ignore distractions while levitating and holding the weight of our partner. We wait our turn, watching most students pass with flying colors while a few fail and run after the distraction. Finally, it’s our turn. Professor Darius is standing aside, along with a few other instructors, grading each pair.
“Ready?” Darius asks, his reassuring gaze finding mine.
I nod, nerves tying my stomach in knots.
“You have plenty of magic, Jade,” he says. “Just concentrate and focus. Don’t let the distractions disrupt your train of thought. You should do fine.”
I nod, then head out onto the floor with my partner in crime. Eyes closed, I focus on my body becoming light as air, trying to concentrate enough to rise from the ground. Using my wand, I channel magic into it, say an incantation to levitate.
Suddenly, a familiar voice cuts through my concentration—one I missed so much that tears spring to my eyes. Mom.
I know it’s a distraction, an illusion to distract me, but it’s all I can do not to turn to her. It sounds so real, as if she’s standing right there. I’d give anything to see her one more time.
But it’s not real. I know it’s not. My hands are shaking in Asher’s as I try to tune out my mother’s voice calling my name. A voice I thought I’d never hear again, saying my name with such anguish I can hardly bear it. Tears stream down my face as I squeeze my eyes shut, trying desperately to push it away.
I feel sweat misting my forehead as I try to stay focused on Asher, gripping his hands while I whisper the chant again and again, trying to rise from the floor. Forcing the room to go quiet in my mind, everything fades away but the image of me and Asher rising into the air, high enough to prove I can control my magic despite distractions. At last, I repeat the words we learned in class to lower us both, and we slowly float back to the floor.
I open my eyes and let out a cheer, pumping my fist in the air. “I did it!”
“Yeah, you did,” Asher says, grinning back at me.
“Your turn,” I say, confident that Asher can do anything I can do. He closes his eyes and recites the chant, and a second later, we begin to rise. He must hear something too, though, because suddenly he jerks around, and our feet thud back to the floor. I grip his hands tighter when he tries to start for the door. I yank him back and force him to meet my gaze. “Focus, Asher,” I say in an even voice. “It’s not real. I heard it, too. It’s an illusion to distract us. They told us that would happen, remember?”
“Right, sorry,” he says, licking his lips and closing his eyes again.
After three or four minutes, he’s back in his groove, and he’s able to levitate with me, hover, and lower us back to the floor.
When we’re back on solid ground, Asher lets out a sigh and gives me a quick hug. “Thanks for having my back, girl,” he says. “It was so real…”
“I know,” I say, wiping my face to make sure my earlier tears are gone. “But we both passed that challenge. Ready for combat?”
Asher goes first, and I watch as he does his thing, kicking his opponent’s ass using nothing but magic and his nunchucks. I’m there to cheer him on and for moral support, but my stomach is in knots. Without my weapon, I have to use a non-magical sparring sword, and my chances are slim at best. At least I have some skill, and I’ve practiced until I can do it by muscle memory alone. But I can’t beat someone who can draw strength from their magic.
While sitting on the sidelines trying to psych myself up for my final so I don’t completely lose it, a slight figure scurries over, a hood pulled low over her face. My mind immediately flashes back to the beautiful woman who attacked me before.
“Oh, fuck no,” I say, grabbing my knife from my boot.
“Jade, it’s me,” an urgent whisper hisses from inside the hood.
“Elowen?” I ask, confused.
She peeks out of her hood, checking the people on either side of us before leaning in closer. “I’m not supposed to be here,” she whispers. “They’d think I was messing up the light magic trials.”
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry I accused you,” I say, grabbing her hands in mine. “I’ve been trying to call you for weeks.”
“Don’t apologize,” she says, her brown eyes filling with tears. “I don’t deserve it. But I had to come. I can’t let you go down like this.”
Suddenly, I can’t breathe. “What?”
“I…I stole your spork,” she blurts out, a tear rolling down her cheek.
Now I know why they call it a knife in the back. Because her betrayal feels like one. “Why?” I ask, my voice shaking.
“She forced me to,” Elowen cries. “She said if I didn’t, she’d get me expelled.”
“Who?”
“Bella, of course,” she says. “Her parents are in the Society of Supernaturals. They can do anything they want. And if I got thrown out and had to go to work for someone who wanted to use my dark magic for evil…” She shudders, more tears falling from her eyes.
I’m reminded about my own situation and how easily the crooked judge gave our lives to Silas. “Okay, I get it,” I say. “But you need to give it back.”
I feel sorry for her, but I’m pissed, too.
“I don’t have it,” she says. “I gave it to Bella. She couldn’t get the magic out of it, so
she’s been summoning demons to do it.”
“Why?” I demand.
“So she could make Thorn fall in love with her, of course,” Elowen says. “And maybe to make you fail.”
She sniffles and wipes her nose.
“We searched her room,” I say. “All their rooms. They didn’t have it.”
“She made me keep it in my room when she wasn’t using it,” Elowen chokes out. “She tried to get me to use it, too, but I wouldn’t. I promise I never touched your magic.”
“Actually, you did,” I say, my fists balling tighter and tighter. “When you took Cleo.”
“I didn’t use it,” Elowen sobs. “I told her yesterday that I wouldn’t hide it for her anymore, and I gave it back. She’s going to get me kicked out now. I had to tell you before I go. I’m so sorry, Jade. I was just so scared.”
“You should have come to me,” I say. “I’m your friend. You could have trusted me the way I trusted you.”
“I know,” Elowen says, her shoulders shaking with sobs. “I’m so sorry, Jade. I told you I wasn’t good.”
I’m too mad to forgive her yet, or even talk to her. I defended her to everyone. I trusted her, and I was wrong. If I had let Rocco search her room the first day she stole it, I’d have had it all along. But I put my friends above what was right in front of my face. I didn’t believe it because I didn’t want to believe it. I wanted to believe we all have a choice, that we are more than our magic. I wanted to believe she could be good despite her magic just like I wanted to believe my life wouldn’t be ruled by mine. Maybe I was wrong about all of it. Maybe I’m my magic, and she is hers. Maybe we don’t get to choose.
“I better go find my weapon before I fail the next two trials and get kicked out of school,” I say. “You’re not the only one with that worry.”
She lets out a little sob, and I feel like shit for being a bitch to her. But she stole from me.
“Thanks for telling me,” I say. “I’ll find you later, and we’ll talk about this.”
Academy of Sorcery: Term 1: Unleashing Trials Page 17