Phoenix Academy: Unbound (Phoenix Academy First Years Book 2)

by Lucy Auburn

  I decide to start from the beginning, to tell them the truth. All of it. That I didn’t just become a Black Phoenix that night on the cliffs, but also wound up anchored to four demons whose spirits followed me, who protected and annoyed the shit out of me. That I’m not just capable of summoning the worm demons they’ve fought against in our training drills, but actually had four full-out upper demons at my disposal, the real kind.

  Petra blinks. “So you’re saying you’re a badass?”

  “Something like that.” A knot of nervousness unwinds in my chest. “You’re not afraid, are you? I mean, I’m... a Grim. Like, an actual, honest-to-god demon-summoning bitch.”

  “Yeah,” Liam echoes, “a badass.”

  Olivia points out, “We don’t mistrust all Grims, Dani. I mean, you’ve met Meyer. There are exceptions to the rule.”

  “About that.”

  And I try, one more time, to get through to them. I tell them about what I saw in the headmaster’s office; I insistently remind them, over and over again, that we talked about Meyer being hired when they came to Sara’s house to bring me back to the academy after I fought Victoria. All of it seems so long ago, but the more I repeat the truth and they see their own memories reflected on each other’s faces, the closer I come.

  Until finally, even Liam blurts out, “Oh my god. That motherfucker—he’s been fucking with us this whole time, hasn’t he?”

  My boobs worked.

  Well, that or the whole telling them the whole truth thing. We’ll never know which. (It was my boobs.)

  Petra looks pissed, which is good, because it means the fog has finally lifted. “What are we gonna do about this dude?”

  In response, I reach into my book bag.

  And pull out a long, curved dagger coated in poison.

  Then I let the full force of my anger at losing my guys fill me, fingertip to fingertip, toe to toe, until it feels like I am the rage. Heat from my wings beats against my shoulders, and black-orange fire wreathes my arms.

  “We’re gonna fuck his shit up.”

  Even Petra seems impressed. “Details?”

  “I plan on weakening him with this poisonous knife and performing a spell to break the quartet from his control.” This is the wobbly part: I have a spell, for taking back that which was stolen, but I’m basically swimming blind in open water here. “I need him to be weak when I do it, though, and preferably distracted. Which means...”

  Liam fills in the blank. “You need our help.”

  “Exactly.” I swallow. “If you’ll give it?”

  “Gladly.” Olivia raises her chin, and the others nod as well. “Just tell me where to point my talons.”

  It feels good not to be alone in the world.

  Chapter 31

  Here’s what I’ve decided to do:

  1) Stab Meyer a whole bunch.

  2) Watch Liam, Sam, Petra, and Olivia claw him to death.

  3) Laugh maniacally.

  4) Get my guys back.

  Mostly in that order. Maybe a little celebration fuckfest once they’re back; I’m sure sex will be Mateo’s first goal as soon as I’ve freed him from Meyer’s clutches and given everyone their memory back.

  “There’s still the matter of the headmaster,” I tell the shifters, as we stand on the roof surveying the campus and discussing our plans. “Ideally, we wouldn’t face her in this fight. I don’t know about you, but I prefer my current not-burned-to-a-crisp state of being.”

  Sam snorts. “At least you come back from the dead.”

  Guilty as charged. Crossing my eyes, I raise my hands up like a zombie and make “grrr, arrrrgh” noises at him. He doesn’t look impressed.

  “I can handle the headmaster,” Petra offers. “From what you described, it doesn’t sound like she’s really on his side. In fact, it seems like he’s already having trouble controlling her; she’s incredibly strong willed. All it may take is tying her up with administrative work, and you’ll be able to get him alone. I’ll just have to keep her occupied.”

  “That means you won’t be able to help us,” I point out, frowning. “So it’ll be four against five, counting the demons. We’ll need an advantageous ground to fight him on. And a few tricks up our sleeve.”

  “Like a demon-summoning badass?” Liam eyes me. “You’ve held your own in group combat drills more than once. And you can summon your wings now. What else could we need?”

  “We’ve got this,” Sam agrees. “No way he’ll be able to outmaneuver us.”

  Out loud, I agree with them, but inwardly I have to acknowledge the fact that it’s not Meyer I’m worried about facing.

  I can’t risk losing. I’ve got too much riding on this fight.

  Thankfully, I’ve spent enough time with Meyer to know how he works. And I think I’ve got the perfect idea to take him down—hopefully permanently.

  “I know what we can do to get him alone.”

  A plan is laid. A stupid one with holes in it, probably, but I’m not the person to figure that out. Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is an abstract to me, and no matter what Jared Fisk blathers on about flanking the enemy and keeping your defenses up, all our group combat drills always devolve into chaos.

  The two things I’ve got on my side are my rage and my ability to come back to life after somebody kills me—as long as, of course, my heart stays in my chest.

  Really, it’s the rage I’m counting on more than anything. Meyer has no idea just how much I hate him; I haven’t had a class with him since that night on the roof, so he hasn’t seen it in my eyes. The second he does, I have no doubt he’ll figure out what’s going on, but by then it’ll be too late.

  I fully intend to destroy him to get back what should be mine.

  I just hope no one else gets hurt in the process.

  “Meyer?” It’s late, but when I knock on his door and step into his office, I’m greeted by the sight of him sitting on the other side of his desk. My poison-coated knife, safe in a leather sheath around my waist, pokes against my back, and I’m thankful for once that the blazers we wear have such thick wool. “There’s something I need your help with.”

  He glances up at me, closing the book in front of him—that exact same black journal he told me had the secrets to severing my bond with the demons. Behind him, his bookshelf has a couple dozen books about Grims, all of which I would love to steal if he weren’t so thorough about locking his office.

  What, I wonder, is he keeping from me?”

  “Call me Leo,” he reminds me, and I fight not to sneer in response. I’ll never call him by his first name, especially now that I know what he truly is. “Come in, Dani. Whatever it is that you need, just tell me. I’m here for you.”

  Bullshit. “I need help practicing some of my powers.” I rub the back of my neck nervously, an emotion I don’t have to fake at all. “My midterm for Introduction to Phoenix Fire is tomorrow, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to fail.”

  “Ah.” He leans back in his chair, steepling his fingers in front of him like he’s some kind of sage guru and not the master of bullshit. “I’m not sure I can help with that. Surely Yohan could be a better instructor on that issue.”

  “He would be,” I admit, hedging the truth a little, “but I don’t think my issue is with my phoenix half. It’s the Grim part of me that’s resisting, and I won’t be able to summon my fire if I don’t fix it.” Biting my lower lip, I add in a fake-hesitant voice, “I’m worried something went wrong that night we performed the severing spell. Obviously it worked since my powers aren’t drained and I can summon minor demons, so I’m thankful for that,” I taste bile on the back of my tongue at this terrible lie, “but I haven’t been able to use my wings since. Maybe I’ll never be a real phoenix.”

  I let my voice wobble on this last sentence, and even manage to conjure up a bit of mist in my eyes. Watching Meyer, I can see it work; men are such fools for the tears of a young woman. An almost fatherly expression crosses the asshole’s face.

  It
’s all I can do not to punch him in his smug cheeks, stab him to death, and steal the books off his shelf. If I do that, though, I’m not sure I’ll ever see my demons again; the spell I memorized from The Arcane Arts of the Living and the Dead specified that the target Grim has to be alive when it’s cast.

  Just my luck I can’t break the fucker’s neck, disembowel him, and sever his dick if I want my guys back. But once I do get them back, I’m sure that they’ll do the hard work for me. Maybe they’ll even let me hold his dangly bits and curse at him colorfully as he dies.

  Hold the sad expression, Dani.

  Don’t let the shitty man see just how much you hate him.

  “I can help you.” Meyer leans forward, looking at me quite gravely. “I know how important it is for you to see yourself as more than just a Grim, here more than anywhere. If we do a few lessons... well, there are things I haven’t taught you yet that are more advanced. Dangerous, even. But they may help you unleash the part of you that burns.”

  Fucker, I burn just fine without you. “I’m grateful for any help you can give me,” I tell him, pasting on a simpering, sweet-little-girl smile. The kind of smile I used to think would get me adopted, if I just held it on my face until my muscles froze. “I just want to feel like I belong here.”

  “Of course.” He’s all sweet, soothing tone, reassurance and comfort; I hate myself for wanting to believe his words, even though I know everything about him is a lie. “I’ve got just the thing for you, Dani. But we’re going to have to do it somewhere less, well, flammable. What about the old gym where we hold our lessons? I had it fireproofed recently.”

  I know he did, which is why I had the feeling he would suggest it for a late night lesson, and was prepared.

  “That’d be great.” I sigh, putting all my very real relief into the sound. “You don’t happen to have time right now, do you? I know the day is getting long in the tooth, but I could really use the help.”

  “Don’t worry, Dani.” Rising to his feet, he approaches me and puts a hand on my shoulder. I have to fight every instinct not to fight him off—or worse, stab him right here and now. “You’re my number one student, after all, so of course I’ll help you. I’ll always be there for you.”

  I smile at him to hide my rage.

  Chapter 32

  My footsteps echo in the gym as I follow Meyer through the front door, heart slamming against my chest. I tell myself that it’s nervousness, but I know the truth: it’s anticipation.

  I can already imagine what it’ll feel like to stab him in his traitor chest, and I’m looking forward to it.

  Maybe that night on the cliffs was no accident. Some feral, aggressive part of me must’ve attracted the demons to me because we share the same desire for vengeance and violence. I’m shocked my anger hasn’t somehow summoned a demon to my side to punish my foes; maybe they’re looking at me now and have judged me perfectly capable of punishing sinners all on my own.

  “So.” Meyer flips on all the light switches one by one, illuminating the gym’s restored interior. I force myself to look at him, and not all around us at the remaining shadows and piles of junk in the corners. “Let’s talk about what we’ll need to do to truly unleash your powers. The spell I think will help you is very effective... but it has its downsides. I want to warn you of those fully before we proceed.”

  My fingers itch to grab my knife, unsheath it, and end this now. Whatever spell he’s talking about, I have no doubt it’s just as terrible as the one he performed to get rid of my soul bond to the guys. I don’t trust him one single bit, and I don’t believe for a second that he has good intentions for me.

  But I have to go along with everything he says and pretend I still trust him if I want my plan to work. It’s worth it, I remind myself, if I get to free them from his odorous control and get them back completely. And if whatever he’s talking about really does unleash my powers, I know exactly who will be my first target.

  So I don’t give the signal for things to begin.

  I want to see if this spell he’s casting might make him weak—and, even better, prevent him from summoning the guys to use against me.

  He looks at me, like he’s waiting for my consent to get things going. I grit my teeth and bite back the words I really want to say to him. “I’ll do it. Whatever it is, if it helps me unbind my powers, it’ll be worth it.” This next lie is the hardest of all, because it used to be true. “I trust you.”

  “Good to know. Lie down on your back right here,” he points to a spot in the middle of the gymnasium floor, “with your arms by your side.”

  It makes me feel vulnerable to do as he says, but at least it’ll make it easier for me to draw my knife without him seeing. The gym floor is hard beneath my back; I position my head towards the back, my feet towards the entrance.

  “Good.” He stands over me, his eyes studying my face. “You know, Dani, I’m so proud of how far you’ve come. And I can’t wait to see how much further you’ll go.”

  My fingers twitch towards the knife. “Uh, thanks I guess.”

  “This will only hurt a little.”

  Hurt? Fuck that. I let my hand slide beneath the curve of my lower back, ready to give the signal at any moment, glad all the combat lessons I’ve taken have built up muscles in my core and arms that will help me launch off the floor and stab him in the guts.

  It’s the least he deserves.

  But I wait for the spell to begin, for a vulnerable moment to arrive. Just a bit longer...

  First, of course, Meyer pricks the flesh of his palms with a sharp knife. Tiny droplets of blood come to the surface of his skin

  “Arise.” Eyes fluttering closed, he waves the flat of his palms out in front of him, just above my body. I grimace as two drops of blood fall from his palms, turning black just before they hit my uniform and disappear. “Rise up, soul, and release yourself from the body.”

  That sounds pretty fucking ominous, and he’s got his eyes closed. Time to take a stand and end this thing. I lift my free hand off the ground and cross my fingers, middle over index, ring over pinkie. Checking to make sure Meyer’s eyes stay closed, I wave the signal in the air and wait.

  Overhead, a predatory bird call sounds from the rafters. Ten... I quickly put my hand flat on the floor again, but thankfully Meyer doesn’t seem to notice Olivia over the sound of his own voice. Nine...

  “Brimstone quake and fire make. Become the light and sound. Call forth fury from within.” What are these nonsense words? He sounds like Shakespeare put through Google Translate and back again. “Erupt the mind and split the spirit, wind called forth from night.”

  It’s not until he speaks this last sentence that I realize he hasn’t been speaking English this whole time. Whatever the language is, it’s ancient and strange, full of hissing syllables—and somehow, my mind translated it for me, which makes the hair on my arms stand on end.

  As the seconds click down and the moment to act approaches, I reach towards my knife sheath,fingertips brushing the handle.

  Before I can grab it, my body freezes.

  Five... four...

  I try to fight the feeling, but I can’t move. At all. My heart surges in my chest, beating against the cage of my ribs like a trapped animal.

  Meyer’s eyes open. Three... “Release that which is within.”

  Two...

  A predatory scream sounds overhead. Meyer turns towards the sounds, away from me—but I still can’t move. There’s a heavy energy wrapped around me, weighing me down. The fucker has done something to me and I don’t know what, but if I don’t figure out a way out of it he might very well ruin all my plans.

  Meyer snaps his fingers. “Unbind.”

  One.

  The gym explodes into chaos, and I’m stuck in the middle of it all, struggling to figure out what’s going on with me. A crash echoes from the bleachers pushed up against the far wall; streaking out of the shadows, a several hundred pound predator roars its fury as Sam shifts into his tige
r form and makes himself known. Meyer jerks away from me, his eyes narrowing, body language shifting from the helpful teacher to the warrior that lives beneath his skin.

  My fingers grasp the hilt of the knife nestled against my back, and I manage to pull it free, struggling to get feeling back to my fingertips. Whatever spell Meyer has laid over me, I can feel it from the surface of my body to the depths of my bones. It surges inside me and wraps around my soul like a living thing—alive, awake, not fully finished with its duty.

  But I can move again, and I fully intend to join this fight.

  Before Sam’s tiger collides with Meyer, he moves into a defensive battle position and clenches his hands at his side. The muscles in his chest ripple with strength, and within moments he’s drawn them to this plane, his will overcoming theirs.

  My guys. My demons. The four men whose bond I took for granted, who I miss so much it makes my chest ache.

  Only this time, instead of appearing around me in various states of undress or in the middle of making jokes, they show up at his side. They surround him in a half circle, weapons out, not even glancing in my direction.

  I know it’s because he’s forced them to bend to his will, but that doesn’t make it feel any better. The horror and fury inside me explodes as Meyer makes a dismissive gesture and forces strong, brave Lynx to stand in front of him, between his vulnerable body and Sam’s sharp claws.

  “Protect me,” he says, sounding for all the world like he’s ordering a cardboard cutout to do his bidding. “Don’t let him touch me, no matter what.”

  “Yes, Master.” Lynx’s glazed expression twists my heart. “I will protect you.”

  There’s no joy or individuality into Lynx’s eyes, or in any of their expressions for that matter. He’s destroyed that with whatever power he used to enslave them to his will. Anger courses through me and gives me energy. I find myself rising from the ground even as the spell wraps around me, my hand drawing the poisoned knife from its sheath.

  I will stab this motherfucker in the chest.