“All right, so as I said last class, we’re going to start learning about the other supernatural species we share this world with.” Mr. Ruth flicked his wrist toward the blackboard behind him, and words appeared written in white. “We’ll be discussing the shifters, werewolves, vampires, Unseelie Fae, Seelie Fae, and Nephilim.”
“Um, excuse me?” a younger girl a few rows back said softly with her hand raised in the air. When Mr. Ruth nodded, she licked her lips and her cheeks flushed. “I was just wondering…um…if Miss High Priestess has ever met any of these other species?”
Tegan turned in her seat to face the girl. “You can call me Tegan, and yes, I have. I’ve been to the Kingdom of Avolire and met the vampire court. I met the king of the shifters, and his warriors. We also had the unfortunate honor of meeting the Seelie Court. Although, I thought the Nephilim were extinct.”
“Ah, yes, the Nephilim…” Mr. Ruth turned to the blackboard and waved his hands. In the blink of an eye, the entire board was covered with sentences, like a magical PowerPoint presentation. “We’re going to start with the Nephilim, because they are the most closely tied to us.”
At the same time, Tegan and I reached into our backpacks and pulled out notebooks and pens. I smiled. This feels normal.
Mr. Ruth gave us a moment to start taking notes while he sipped his coffee. Then he leaned back on his desk and cracked his knuckles. “So the Goddess made arcana—us—to kill the demons and protect the world from supernatural danger. However, as these other species began to grow in numbers, we started to have problems with their behavior. The Coven summoned the Goddess and asked her to create a race of beings to police the other species. The Goddess agreed with this idea, and together, they decided this new species would be a mixture of human and angel. This way, they would have enhanced agility and fighting skills they’d need to keep everyone else in line.”
I frowned. “Why do I feel like there’s a big but coming?”
“Excellent intuition, Bettina.” Mr. Ruth chuckled. “Somewhere around a thousand years ago, the Nephilim became power hungry. They resented the arcana for their magic, and for their rule over the world. They wanted it for themselves, except they weren’t powerful enough to take it from us… But they found a way.”
Tegan scoffed, but she was busy scribbling notes. “They tried, you mean.”
Lennox glanced back and forth between Tegan and Mr. Ruth like a confused puppy. “What did they do?”
“They somehow managed to get in contact with the Unseelie King—”
“What? Somehow?” Lennox squeaked. “What does that mean? How did they do that?”
“No civilian knows.” Mr. Ruth looked to Tegan and shrugged. “Legend says The Coven knew how they managed to get in contact with him, but refused to disclose the information.”
“For obvious reasons,” Tegan mumbled.
My eyes widened. The whole class gasped, including Mr. Ruth.
Tegan glanced up and shrugged. “Sorry, that’s classified information.”
Mr. Ruth chuckled. “Of course. So anyway, the Unseelie King sent his daughter, the Unseelie Princess, to Earth. She mated with the Nephilim leader and then gave birth to the very first vampire—”
“Queen Sweyn,” Tegan whispered as she furiously took notes.
“Indeed, Queen Sweyn.” Mr. Ruth pointed to the board. “Now, once Sweyn was born, they decided to create the rest of their new race—which we’ll get to soon. Keep in mind, all of this was done in secret. The Coven found out a few decades later, and a massive civil war followed. The witches against the Nephilim and vampires. It was bloody and brutal, and thousands of lives were lost before we defeated the last of the Nephilim. Once they were gone, Queen Sweyn surrendered.”
I shook my head. “Wait, so the entire race of Nephilim was killed? All of them?”
Mr. Ruth nodded. “According to—”
The classroom door swung open with a creak. Tennessee sauntered into the room looking like a jaguar on the hunt. He wore his usual uniform of all black, and not for the first time I wondered if he bought his jeans with rips in them or if they were from battling demons. I glanced over to Tegan, but she hadn’t looked up. She was too busy writing in her notebook.
Mr. Ruth paled a little, but recovered his composure immediately. He cleared his throat. “Emperor, how may we help you?”
Tennessee pointed to his soulmate. “Tegan is needed for Coven business.”
“Of course, of course.” Mr. Ruth turned to her. “Tegan, you may go.”
But Tegan didn’t react or respond. Her gaze moved from the blackboard to her notebook and back again.
“Ms. Bishop?” Mr. Ruth stared at her for a moment then tapped her desk with his finger. “Excuse me, Tegan?”
She held one finger up over her head while she scribbled with the other. “One sec, babe.”
“Tegan.” Tennessee frowned. He flicked his fingers, and a gust of wind slammed into her face, blowing her hair back. “Tegan.”
I covered my mouth to hide my chuckle. Some things never change. I wasn’t sure why she was so furiously copying all the notes from the board, but she seemed hellbent to finish.
Tennessee sighed and shook his head. “Tegan, seriously?”
“Babe,” she said with a groan. She got to her feet then leaned over her desk to keep writing. “One second. I just gotta write this."
Tennessee arched one black eyebrow then looked down at his watch. He waited thirty seconds while Mr. Ruth and the rest of us stared at the two of them. Mr. Ruth cleared his throat pointedly. Twenty seconds later, Tegan was still writing. Tennessee cursed then stormed over to her. Without slowing or missing a beat, he bent over a little and threw her over his shoulder like she weighed no more than a feather. The whole class gasped.
“Babe!” Tegan squealed then squirmed. “No, Tenn. Just wait—”
“Thanks, Mr. Ruth,” Tennessee said with a cheerful voice as he turned and carried Tegan toward the door.
“No, damn it, Tenn!” She growled and smacked his butt. Then she lifted her head and pointed to me, her messy bun sliding loose off her head. “Bettina, take notes for me!”
“O-okay,” I said with a laugh.
Tennessee didn’t waste a single second. He marched right out the door with her still hanging over his shoulder. The entire class burst into laughter, including Mr. Ruth. Just as the door was swinging shut, Jackson leaned inside.
He frowned and pointed to the hallway. “Everything all right in here?”
My heart did somersaults in my chest. I sighed. Obviously not and you know it.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Bettina
“I’m just saying that Star guy is hella fine,” Lennox said as we walked out of the building and into the courtyard. “Hella fine.”
I rolled my eyes. “You mean Cooper Bishop?”
She shrugged. “You know I’m bad at names, but yeah, that sounds like a hot enough name for him. You need to get some of that.”
I rolled my eyes. “Just no, Lennox.”
“Just yes, Bettina.” She gripped my hand and yanked me to a stop. “Cooper is hot as hell, is a super powerful Coven-member...and most importantly, he’s not Jackson Lancaster.”
Bettina, come to Coven Headquarters.
I froze and looked around, but she was nowhere in sight.
Please. Pretty, purrrrty please.
Lennox frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve just been summoned to Coven Headquarters.”
“How do you know that?” She looked around the hallway.
I tapped on my temple. “Tegan is telepathic.”
Lennox’s eyes widened. “Wicked.”
“Indeed.” I started to walk backwards. “I’ll see you later!”
She gave me two thumbs-up. “Do some star gazing!”
I turned so she wouldn’t catch me laughing. She wasn’t wrong, though. Cooper Bishop was particularly good-looking with his short blond hair, pale green eyes, and all those
muscles. He was powerful, not that that mattered to me. Any witch was amazing to my human eyes. I’d met Cooper when they questioned me, then saw him all day while I was hanging close to Tennessee. But then I’d really met him last night at dinner. He was nice, had a great sense of humor, and smelled refreshingly like Irish Spring soap.
But he’s not Jackson.
Shut up, brain. I can’t have Jackson.
That was the most important thing for me to remember. No matter how much I wanted Jackson, I couldn’t have him. He’d been adamant about it. I was a distraction, one he really couldn’t afford. He couldn’t risk it, and I didn’t want him to. I wanted him to do so well on his test with Michael that the angel praised him. I couldn’t be the doom of the entire Lancaster bloodline, and neither could Jackson. This was too important. It was bigger than us.
If only my body got with the plan. Every time he was near, I lit up like the Fourth of July. My pulse went nuts. Just thinking about him made my chest burn.
I walked around the back of the library and hurried across the lawn. Coven Headquarters was set on the back side of campus, on a patch of holy ground. I stared up at the building in question, and it looked more like a mansion than a house. It was a three-story, old brick home with a slanted tiled roof and a purple door. My favorite part was the wraparound porches, and all the colorful wildflowers.
Back here, there wasn’t much foot traffic because civilians weren’t invited to Coven Headquarters. Someone was up on the porch, just too far out of sight for me to make out any details. Part of me wondered if it was Cooper. Lennox’s words kept ringing through my head. Maybe I needed to try and move on. It wasn’t like Jackson and I had been dating. We’d shared a few kisses. Yet still, my attraction to him had been instant, and it only grew the more I knew him. I may have been a hopeless romantic, but it seemed to me that romance should’ve started that way. I didn’t want to decide to date someone. I wanted to not be able to breathe without being near them.
I took a deep breath and started up the front steps. But then the person stepped out of the shadow and into the setting sun. My breath left me in a rush. I stumbled back down a step. Jackson. My heart did that little weird flippy thing again. I stared up at him while searching for words. His golden bronze hair looked like he’d dragged his fingers through it a million times. Those aquamarine eyes sparkled down at me, and my pulse fluttered.
This. THIS is how I’m supposed to feel.
“Bettina,” he whispered and nodded his head.
I smiled and tried to ignore the fact that my face was burning and probably bright red. “Hello, Jackson.”
He opened his mouth to speak when the front door to Headquarters flew open. Tegan leaned in the doorjamb. “Hello, my pretties. Come on in.” She winked then turned inside.
I leapt after her…but the second my feet crossed the threshold, I froze in place. The inside was gorgeous and cozy at the same time. It was a combination of mahogany hardwood floors, brick walls, and thick, fuzzy carpets. The fireplace on the far wall to my left had to be fifteen feet long in itself. There were four suede sofas that looked comfortable enough to sleep on.
Warmth spread over the left side of my body. That Christmassy scent washed over me. Jackson stood so close, close enough to hold his hand. The sleeves of our shirts brushed, and I almost groaned. I craved his touch.
“Thanks for coming over so quick,” Tegan said as she waved for us to follow her down the hall. “We want to try something.”
I frowned and glanced over to Jackson. “Did you call for both of us?”
“Yep.” She turned the handle of a shut door then pushed her way inside.
I followed her inside—then jumped back and slammed into Jackson’s chest. He grabbed my shoulders to steady me, and my brain went a little wonky. A girl about my age stood just inside the door. She had pretty chocolate hair and big brown eyes. Her skin was lusciously tan, the kind that definitely came with her heritage and not from being in the sun. She glanced down at me like I was a gnat then pushed off the wall. In the far corner, Kessler stood at the window watching outside.
“Is this room on holy ground?” Jackson asked as he stared at the floor.
“Yep.” Tegan walked to the center of the dark room, and as she did, candle flames flickered to life in a row of columns. “This is our sacred room, for rituals and such. Of course, you both know Kessler. And this is Paulina, Death Card.”
Paulina inclined her head. She didn’t smile and her eyes seemed distant. “Hello.”
“Hello,” Jackson and I said at the same time.
I glanced up at him, and my cheeks warmed. Focus, Bettina. I peeled my eyes off of him and focused on Tegan. She was in the center of the room, crouched low to the ground. She closed her eyes then pressed her finger to the hardwood floors. Thick black lines shot out from where she touched. They spread out then crossed over each other until they made the shape of a star— Oh. It was a pentacle. My stomach sank. Tegan raised her hand in the air and wiggled her fingers. A silver chalice lifted off the ground in the corner and floated over to her waiting hand. She grabbed it then stood and walked around the pentacle to make a circle of salt around it.
I shivered. “Why did you call me here?”
Tegan walked to the corner of the room and set the chalice down on the ground. When she turned back, she flicked her wrists, and light flashed around us as more candles lit. Then she looked to us. “After both of your recountings of the incident with the Ouija board, we decided we want to try again.”
My pulse quickened. “What? No. Nope. Uh-uh. Last time I blew up the room and people got hurt. I don’t think—”
“Bettina,” Tegan said in a soft voice. She gripped my arms and squeezed, and it calmed my racing nerves. “I understand. I know you’re new at this, and I know that you can’t control or even access your magic and that scares you. But that’s why I’m here, because nothing in this world is more powerful than my magic.”
Kessler chuckled. I must’ve made a face because he shrugged. “She’s not wrong.”
Tegan dropped her hands then gestured around the room. “We’re on holy ground right now, so nothing demonic can touch us. The entire Coven is in this house. They know what we’re about to do, and they’re ready should anything go down. Okay? Tennessee isn’t human, so if we’re in trouble, he’ll be here faster than I could even reach out to him telepathically.”
I arched my eyebrows. “How?”
She smiled and pointed to the pink crystal on her chest. “Our soulmate glyph. He can feel what I feel. And I promise, if my pulse beats even slightly faster, he’ll be knocking that door down.”
“Bloody hell, that’s cool,” Jackson mumbled.
“Right?” Tegan grinned, but then she sobered and refocused on me. “We just need to see if we can contact that spirit who spoke to you in Charleston. Whoever that was knew things, and we need to ask more. As the Death Card, Paulina can communicate with the dead—”
“So why can’t she just call that spirit?” I wrung my hands together and shifted my weight around. I knew it was wrong to argue with her. She was the High Priestess and Aether Witch, but I still hadn’t gotten over the first time I used the Ouija board. “I mean, wouldn’t that be easier and safer?”
“Technically, yes.” Paulina’s eyes softened. “I’ve been trying since you first told us about your incident. Problem is you don’t know who you spoke to, so I can’t pinpoint them. Tegan and I were hoping that if you used the Ouija board again, that same spirit might return to you. If it works, then I’ll be able to take over and speak to it without the board.”
I sighed. “Oh.”
To my surprise, Paulina smiled, and I felt the energy in the room lighten. “Nothing evil can enter this room, but more importantly, with Tegan and I here, nothing will be able to hurt you.”
“So all five of us are going to use the Ouija board together?” Jackson asked from behind me.
Tegan shook her head. “No, even numbers are better. I’m
just going to be standing guard while the four of you do it. It’s better if my magic is not involved. We want Bettina’s to be the focus, because it’s her the spirit wants.”
“Also, we’re hoping we may be able to contact Timothy.”
“What?” My body turned cold. “Timothy?”
“I haven’t been able to reach him either,” Paulina whispered.
Kessler moved away from the window and walked to the circle, then stepped inside through the opening. “All right, let’s do it.”
Paulina and Jackson followed his lead and walked inside the circle. The three of them sat on their knees, then looked up to me expectantly. I wasn’t sure why I was fighting this. All of what they’d said made sense, but it still freaked me out.
Tegan bumped my arm with her shoulder, then nodded toward the circle. “It’s okay. I got you.”
Okay, here goes nothing. I stepped inside the circle then dropped to my knees. My heart pounded in my chest.
Tegan handed Paulina a folded black board, then moved away. Behind me, she closed the circle with salt then walked over to the door and leaned against it.
Paulina opened the black board, and my stomach flipped. I’d never thought I’d ever use a Ouija board in my life, and now here I was, about to use one for a second time. I eyed that triangular planchette like it was a snake about to bite me. The three of them bent over and placed their pointer and middle fingers on it. I took a deep breath then slid my four fingers in next to Jackson’s. Our skin touched, and electricity shot up my arm. I peeked up to look at him just as a cold chill ran down my spine…and then I remembered what we were doing and the heat from his touch was pushed to the back of my mind.
It’s okay. Tegan is here. The Coven is all here. They’ll protect you. No one is going to get hurt.
Together, we moved the planchette around the board in a circle to cleanse it.
Bettina, you call the spirit, Tegan said into my head.
The Coven - Academy Magic Complete Series Page 36