Academy of Sorcery: Term 1: Unleashing Trials

by Alexa B. James

  “Bella Goodwin has it,” she chokes out, doubling over to cover her face.

  Pushing my way through the students in line, I find Blonde Bella. It’s time to confront her. “So, I hear you have something that belongs to me.”

  Bella just stares at me, all perfect skin and innocence. “What are you talking about?”

  “Admit it,” I say. “Or we can do this the hard way.”

  Bella crosses her arms and smirks at me. “Girls, look,” she purrs. “Dumpster’s finally losing it.”

  “Hard way it is,” I say. “I’ve been dying to put you in your place.”

  I pull back my fist and punch her in the face.

  Bella screams and collapses to the floor.

  But I don’t just want to send a message, I want to start a war. So I jump onto her, punching her again. She hits back, boxing me in the ear. I throw another jab, and she bucks, rolling us over. While Bella and I roll around on the floor, beating the crap out of each other, everyone gathers around, yelling and cheering us on. Adrenaline races through me, addictive and empowering. The three sorcery students, Asher, and Elowen are in the crowd. I can almost hear them rooting for me to give Bella the ass kicking she deserves.

  After a few minutes, I wear Bella down and pin her to the floor. “Where’s my spork?”

  Bella lifts her head off the floor and spits, barely missing my face. Fortunately, I have faster reflexes. I pull back my fist, about to hit her again, but someone grabs me and drags me off her.

  “What the hell is going on?” Professor Darius demands. He stares at his sorcery students. “And why didn’t any of you stop it?”

  The three boys seem to shake out of a trance. “It happened so fast,” Rocco says, scratching the back of his neck.

  “Jade and Bella,” Darius says. “In my office. Now.”

  We follow the professor back to the office which is becoming all too familiar. Bella flounces in, hand over her nose, blood seeping between her fingers.

  “If you broke my nose, and it heals crooked, my daddy will make you pay,” she hisses.

  Her parents are powerful enough that Elowen caved and stole from me because of that threat. I won’t cower to that kind of bully, though. I have nothing to lose. My life already belongs to a conniving asshole. She can’t make my future worse than it’ll be if I don’t get Cleo back, and I fail out of the Academy.

  Darius hands Bella a box of tissues that she uses to clean her bloody nose. Then he sits across from us, hands on his desk. “I realize you two haven’t hit it off, but this has gotten out of hand. What’s going on?”

  “She has Cleo,” I say. “Elowen told me.”

  Bella glares at me. “Jade’s just jealous that Thorn likes me better.”

  “Is that true?” Darius asks, his eyes searching mine. My heart squeezes when I find hurt in his gaze.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” I ask, widening my eyes. “She coerced my friend into stealing my spork, then summoned demonlings to campus to siphon the magic to use for herself. My magic.”

  Darius gives his head a quick shake. “You’re right. The rest is irrelevant.”

  “I had to,” Bella wails. “She gets to be around him all the time. I barely even see him!”

  I turn to her, my jaw dropping in disbelief. “Are you really so desperate for a guy that you’d steal my magic to get him?”

  “It worked, didn’t it?” she snaps.

  “Yeah, but he doesn’t actually like you,” I point out. “You might as well get him drunk and take advantage of him.”

  “Don’t you think I’ve tried that?”

  “Oh my god,” I say, turning back to Darius. “Do you hear her? I thought she was this powerful witch, but she’s just a sad little bitch who can’t think about anything but whether a guy wants her.”

  “You better watch who you’re calling a bitch,” Bella says, starting to rise from her chair.

  “Sit,” Darius barks, holding up a hand.

  Bella falls back into her chair and glares at him, her arms crossed over her chest.

  “I’m sorry to say this, but I’m afraid we may have to expel you,” Darius says to her. “We try not to ever expel students, but tampering with someone’s magic is a serious offense.”

  “What?” Bella shrieks. “You can’t expel me. You don’t understand how much pressure I’m under from my parents. They’ll kill me if I’m expelled!”

  “Maybe you should have thought of that before leaving me with a huge handicap for half this semester,” I snap.

  “I’m sorry.” She breaks down into hiccupping sobs, covering her face with both hands. “Don’t kick me out. I can’t be someone’s servant.”

  Oh, the nerve of this bitch. After making fun of me for being someone’s servant all semester, now she’s got a glimpse of what that life is like, and she’s blubbering like a baby.

  Still, the reality of what she’s about to face makes my blood run cold and my spine stiffen. I wouldn’t wish a contract like mine on my worst enemy. “Give me my weapon,” I say quietly.

  Bella pulls it from her pocket and hands me Cleo. The moment she’s in my hand, our connection seems to snap taut, and for the first time in weeks I feel like I can really breathe. I hold her to my chest and stare at Bella.

  “Don’t look at me. I’m ugly when I cry,” she chokes out through her sobs.

  “That’s really it, isn’t it?” I say. “You have nothing but your looks, and they didn’t work, so you had to resort to this. You really have nothing in your life except a giant hole that you think Thorn can fill.”

  “I’ll tell,” she hisses, her wild eyes flying between me and Darius. “I’ll tell Headmaster Orville about you two.”

  Professor Darius freezes.

  “Tell them what, exactly?” I ask. “He’s my teacher. There’s nothing going on.”

  Bella gives me a smug smile. “No? Well, they don’t have to know that. You get private lessons with Professor Darius. Who knows what goes on behind closed doors.”

  “Tell you what,” I say, realizing I better fix this. There are telepaths here who could figure out what happened between me and Darius in minutes. “I’m not going to press charges, or file a report, or whatever the procedure is at the Academy. I’ll even forgive you for stealing my magic and my vessel, because I feel sorry for you.”

  “What?” she asks, narrowing her eyes. She’s wrong about her beauty. Even with a splotchy, tear-stained face, she’s still pretty. But no matter how beautiful she is, how much makeup she puts on or how much magic she steals, she can’t change the fact that deep inside, she’s an ugly, mean little person.

  “That’s right,” I say, standing and squaring my shoulders. “I won’t have you punished, but you owe me one. And rest assured, I will collect.”

  “Are you sure about this, Jade?” Professor Darius asks.

  “Let her stay,” I say. “But she also needs to call off the demonlings and that dark magic lady who attacks me every time I leave campus.”

  “I’ll uninvite the demonlings to campus, but I don’t know what lady you’re talking about.”

  “Someone very powerful came after Jade and the other sorcerers several times,” Professor Darius says, fixing Bella with a hard stare.

  She cowers, visibly shaking, her eyes wide. “It wasn’t me. I swear it!”

  “I’m done here,” I say. “Leave me the fuck alone until I come to collect my favor. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a final to ace.”

  “Go ahead,” Darius says, gesturing to the door. He gives me a smile that makes my heart flip and adds, “Good luck.”

  I return to the Great Hall to complete the next trial. Cleo is practically singing in my hand, and I can’t believe I ever doubted her. I don’t think I’ll ever put her down again. She feels like part of me, an extension of my arm. I pour magic into her, and the relief is instant and overwhelming.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper to her. “I treated you like shit, but I’ll never do it again.�
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  “Jade?” Ryker says, coming over to join me. “Ready?”

  “Fuck yeah,” I say. “And I’m going to kick your ass this time.”

  I step onto the floor, the magic humming between me and Cleo. After using a dummy sword for so long, I could laugh out loud at how alive my weapon feels in my hand now. I barely know I’ve given the command before a long, beautiful gleaming sword shimmers in my hand.

  “Thanks, girl,” I whisper, circling Ryker.

  He knocked me to the floor too many times this semester. Now it’s my turn. We parry a few times, and then I feint to the left. When he moves to attack, I lunge in and strike. Ryker stumbles back and falls to the floor. I leap forward, positioning the tip of my sword at his throat like he’s done a hundred times in swordsmanship class.

  “Pinned ya,” I say with a grin.

  For the first time in maybe his entire life, Ryker grins back. “Congratulations,” he says, knocking my sword away and jumping to his feet. He holds out a hand to shake mine. “You passed.”

  I’m so excited I throw my arms around him and squeeze him as hard as I can. Ryker looks so startled I can’t help but laugh.

  “I did it,” I crow. “I fucking did it!”

  “Yeah, you fucking did,” he says, smiling down at me, one arm still around my waist. His gaze dips to my lips, and my breath catches. And I want.

  Ryker steps back from me, and I try to shake off the feeling. My head is spinning. I couldn’t afford to release any magic while finals were coming up, but now that I’ve put plenty into Cleo, I know that’s not the problem. The problem is that I can’t resist him, bastard or not. And I can’t read minds, but I’m pretty sure the feeling is mutual.

  He clears his throat and gestures toward the door with his sword. “Ready for your third trial?”

  “The final final,” I say, trying to make a joke though my pulse is racing at the thought.

  Ryker doesn’t crack a smile this time. “Let’s go.”

  “Guess I’m as ready as I’m going to get,” I mutter, following him out of the Great Hall and toward the last test, the one that determines whether or not I’ll stay at the Academy of Sorcery.

  Chapter 22

  “Considering you’ve not had time to practice with your weapon, you will do yours outside, away from any other students who could be injured,” Darius explains to me as we head out. The final challenge involves gathering all the magic we possess and focusing it intently, then transferring it back and forth with our vessel until we recognize the right balance within ourselves that won’t endanger anyone but gives us plenty of magic to work with.

  “To prevent injuries, or unintended orgies?” I ask, flashing a grin at Darius.

  “Yes, that is a concern,” he acknowledges with a small smile, looking unruffled by my comment. He holds the door open for me, and then the three sorcery students and I follow him to a small group of palm trees behind the Great Hall. Under them, a patch of scruffy grass surrounded by palmettos gives us some privacy from anyone leaving their final.

  “This looks like a good spot,” Darius says. “I know you haven’t gotten to practice gathering magic into yourself much, since you’ve been trying to regulate it without conventional means.”

  He gives me a meaningful look, and I feel heat rising to my cheeks. I catch Thorn’s scowl, and the look in his eyes says he’s guessed exactly how I regulated my magic.

  Crap.

  If he turns Darius in to the headmaster…

  “Stand in the middle and prepare your weapon,” Darius says, oblivious to the resentful look being cast his way.

  “Focus, Jade,” I whisper under my breath. They can work out their issues later. I need to harness all the magic I can and get it to Cleo right now.

  I pull out my spork and hold her up in front of me like she’s the fucking sword of King Arthur, my little three-tined Excalibur. I dare anyone to laugh at her unimpressive disguise. I know what she can do.

  Holding her aloft, I begin to move my magic back and forth, letting it flow as if she’s a part of me, which is how she feels today. Even with Professor Darius’s private lessons, it’s never been this easy. I wonder if she missed me as much as I missed her. After a few minutes, I glance over and notice the guys looking uncomfortable.

  I’m starting to squirm myself. It’s one thing to focus my magic, to turn it to levitating. It’s another just to handle it raw, not changing it or focusing it to do my bidding.

  My eyes meet Rocco’s, and I remember his mouth on me, his tongue forcing into my virgin opening, and my knees clench together. Rocco scratches the back of his neck and shuffles a few steps toward me. Fuck. Can he read my mind?

  “Jade,” he says. “I… I’m sorry. I don’t know what was wrong with me. Just that, I guess when they had your magic, I recognized it somehow, subconsciously. I was drawn to them because they had stolen a part of you.”

  “You were sleeping with Bella because she reminded you of me?”

  He rubs the back of his head again. “Well… Yeah. I know it sounds lame. But that’s what happened.”

  My damn magic. Not only did it let them seduce my guys, but it let them somehow feel familiar to the guys, feel like me. I suddenly wish I hadn’t spared Bella a cruel fate.

  Professor Darius clears his throat. “Rocco,” he says quietly. “Let Jade focus.”

  Rocco casts a glance their way, his brows lifted like he’d forgotten they were there. “Right. Sorry, Jade.”

  He slips back into place with the others, leaving me in the center of the clearing. Standing here holding my sword, I suddenly feel very powerful. Sexy. More than that, I feel an aching need inside me, ravenous and unquenchable. I lock eyes with Thorn, summoning him to me like I did in the club. He shifts and glances to either side, like they can help him. But the other sorcerers are staring at me with the same glazed looks they gave me when I was rolling around with Bella.

  This time, I don’t have to share the attention.

  Thorn takes a tentative step toward me, and I bite my lower lip, my body humming with desire for him. I don’t care if it’s the magic or not. I just want him. It really is like being intoxicated. It lets me do what I wouldn’t be brave enough to do otherwise.

  Thorn stops in front of me, his hands balled into fists.

  “What’s your excuse?” I ask.

  “I didn’t sleep with Bella,” he says. “She wanted to, but I… Didn’t.”

  I can’t stand the separation of our bodies any longer. I step to him, closing the distance between us, and wrap my arms around his neck. The sensation of our bodies colliding knocks the breath out of me. “Kiss me,” I say, imploring him with my gaze.

  Thorn’s arms tighten around me, and his mouth dips to mine. His lips are soft but sure against mine, and I melt into the kiss, feeling his strong arms around me and his hard body pressing relentlessly against mine. His tongue slides between my lips, caressing mine, deepening the kiss. When he pulls away, his hands slide down my back, his mouth dipping to my neck, sending chills through my entire body.

  Over his shoulder, I catch sight of our audience. Instead of feeling embarrassed that I’d forgotten them, a thrill races through me, and my thighs dampen with lust. Before I can think better of it, I motion for them to join us. Ryker and Rocco don’t hesitate. Obeying my command, they press in next to me.

  Ryker stands behind me, tugging my chin around to kiss me the way he did in the studio that day. His lips are insatiable, his kiss mouthwatering. Thorn’s lips tug at my skin, kissing my neck harder, while Rocco’s breath heats my shoulder and his hands stroke my body, pinching my nipple until I whimper into Ryker’s mouth. His cock throbs against my ass at the sound, and wetness pools between my legs.

  Somehow, impossibly, I want more. My body is on fire, overwhelmed by pleasure, but it’s not enough. I’m like an addict needing a fix.

  “Darius,” I gasp, pulling away from the kiss to welcome him. But he just gives a short shake of his head, his jaw clenched
and his eyes clouded with lust. Somehow, he can resist, but it doesn’t bother me. I’m glad the others have given in, even if he hasn’t. I think I’d die if they weren’t touching me, kissing me, exploring me.

  Rocco plants his lips on mine, and I respond hungrily, eager to taste his mouth. His hand slips between the buttons of my shirt, teasing the edge of my full breast until I am squirming for more, my nipple so hard it hurts, begging for his touch. Thorn starts unbuttoning my shirt for him, and I arch my back in pleasure, letting my breasts rise toward them. Thorn makes quick work of my shirt, spreading it open and peeling down the cup of my bra to take my nipple in his mouth.

  I let out a muffled cry as Thorn’s mouth closes around my nipple, his tongue caressing it while Rocco’s tongue plunges into my mouth. Ryker’s hand slides down my belly and under my skirt. Rocco finds my other nipple and begins to tweak and tug at it while Thorn strokes the other with his tongue. I arch back again, hooking an arm around Ryker’s neck and grinding my ass against his hard length. He rocks against me, dipping his hand between my thighs.

  Nudging them apart, he slips his fingers into my wetness. I whimper with pleasure, my knees going weak. Thorn supports my weight, spreading my knees for Ryker’s probing fingers. He sinks a finger deep inside me, and I moan with pleasure. Their hands knead and caress, their tongues stroking me to greater heights each moment. Rocco’s hand drags up my thigh, pulling my skirt with it. He tugs my panties aside and circles my clit with his finger while Ryker keeps thrusting his finger into me. Rocco slicks over my swollen nub until I can hardly stand it. Then he slides lower, sinking his finger into me at the same time as his brother.

  “Fuck, you’re so tight,” he groans, his mouth hot against my neck.

  The pleasure ripples through me, and I can hardly breathe. I drop my head back against Ryker’s shoulder as Thorn’s hand joins theirs, coating his fingers in my juices as he explores my folds and teases my clit until I’m writhing against him. He starts to press against my opening, and I cry out in pleasure and pain as he stretches me open further, his finger joining the other two. They drive into me together, in a maddening rhythm until I can’t bear it another second. A cry tears from my lips, and white flashes behind my eyelids as a climax grips every inch of my body. Their fingers continue pumping deeper into me, slippery and hot, as I ride the waves of pleasure until I’m nothing but a quivering puddle of satisfaction.