Not only had I never studied much about plants and herbs when I lived in Montana, but I’d learned that The Side of Magic had all sorts of plant life that simply didn’t exist there. With the help of magic, crossbreeding had made possible thousands of different plant species.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. 7:45 a.m. The class didn’t even begin for another fifteen minutes.
“What are you working on?” I left my bag behind and walked to the front of the class.
“Hum?” Professor Lakeshore adjusted his glasses and pushed aside the long white and gray beard that seemed to always get in the way of his work. Of all the professors here at the Borealis Academy of Magical Arts, he was the most like what I would consider a stereotypical wizard. The only thing missing was the floor length robe. Instead, he wore a three-piece tweed suit every day, complete with a gold pocket watch and chain that hung from his vest.
The professor didn’t answer, so I leaned over to inspect the ancient leather book that lay in front of him. It was open to a page that read “List of Poisonous Plants. Handle with caution.”
“Are those poisonous?”
Lakeshore peeked into the microscope again and then turned his attention to me. “May I help you, Miss Barrows?” Frustration brewed in his eyes as he continued to stare at me.
“Um . . . I just noticed that you were handling poisonous plants with no gloves.”
The professor glimpsed down at his bare hands. “Oh. After all these years I seem to be quite immune to the poisons. I’m sure in the end the toxin buildup may be the death of me, but for now—except for the occasional minor rash—I’m rarely bothered.”
I gazed at the small pile of stems and leaves. “And are those poisonous?”
He chuckled as if my question was the silliest one he’d ever heard. “No. This is Aestreadleaf. Only distantly related to Deadnettle.” He pointed to the poisonous plant’s description in the book. “Aestreadleaf is quite harmless on its own. But it is used in several specialized spells. People often confuse them for each other.”
I moved in closer to his desk and noticed the leaf veins on the Aestreadleaf seemed to be slightly thicker than the Deadnettle. But other than that tiny detail, they did appear to be identical.
He picked up a stem and admired it. “Aestreadleaf is quite rare, particularly this type.”
“And what makes it rare?”
Several students were starting to file into the classroom and take their seats, and I was keenly aware of their eyes on me. Rosalee was not among them, though.
“This species of Aestreadleaf only grows once a year on the evening of the third full moon in one area on The Side of Magic. This year a fellow herb enthusiast was fortunate enough to get her hands on some and donated it to the academy. Deadnettle is easy to find. Quite common.”
I leaned my hands on the desk’s edge. The professor looked pleased with my interest in the herbs beyond what was required in the class.
“What happens if you accidentally substitute one for the other in a spell?”
The professor leaned back in his chair and folded his hands across his lap. “Oh, that is something you definitely do not want to do.”
“What would happen?”
Before he answered, Lakeshore’s eyes drifted to my side, and I turned my head to see Rosalee. My insides flinched. I hadn’t even noticed her come in.
The girl glared at me with her bright green eyes and then glanced at the open book on Lakeshore’s desk.
“We can speak more about this later if you are interested, Miss Barrows,” Professor Lakeshore said.
“Yes,” I muttered and returned to my seat.
Rosalee asked the professor something I couldn’t hear. Then she sauntered to her chair and lowered herself into it, keeping her eyes forward.
“Please open your textbooks to page one hundred and twenty-two.” The professor rose and made his way to the blackboard. He raised his hand, and beautifully scrolled words formed on the surface concerning today’s lesson.
I reached into my bag, retrieved my textbook, and placed it on my desk. Before I could follow the directions, the book opened on its own and began flipping pages. It stopped on page one twenty-two. Inserted there was a note on a cream-colored slip of paper.
Researching poisons, huh? Planning to murder someone?
My heart jumped into my throat as the paper degraded into ash. I glanced at Rosalee, whose hand at her side was illuminated with barely-there wisps of golden flame.
Chapter 3
After a long and frustrating day of classes, I arrived right at 4:49 in the courtyard with the statues. Aspen was leaning against the stone version of Archer Borealis, the Academy’s founder, arms folded over his chest and waiting for me.
Even seeing Aspen barely lifted my spirits. After what happened this morning in my herb class, I didn’t feel much like practicing magic. All I could think about was Rosalee spreading rumors about my interest in poisonous plants. I’m sure the story had morphed into my threatening her or someone else by now.
“Welcome to the Phantom Lawn,” he said with a snicker, but he furrowed his brow when he noticed my dejected demeanor.
“I’ve been here once before. There is something a little creepy about this place.” There were ten statues, all of them tall, and the figures looked staunch, perhaps unhappy that they had been frozen in time.
Aspen uncrossed his arms and walked toward me. “You okay?”
“You haven’t heard?”
“What? I’ve been in the library most of the day.”
“How’d your test go?” I said, attempting to change the subject.
Aspen shrugged. “Could have been worse. I got an 88%. But I can take it again next week to try to raise the score.”
“You know, for most people, 88% is good.”
He kicked at the ground with the tip of his shoe. “I can do better. Now, what about you?”
I bit the inside of my cheek, not really wanting to tell him. But after a moment I walked to the Borealis statue, sat and blurted out the whole story about the note from Rosalee since I really needed to unload.
At the end, Aspen scrunched up his nose as he sat beside me. “Rosalee seems to be one of those people who can’t see beyond black and white. There’s no gray for her. You’re half Morelli, so you must be bad. She’s looking for anything.”
“A lot of people around here seem to be that way.” I leaned back against Borealis’s marble leg.
“That’s probably because it’s what we’re taught from the time we’re small. The Morelli are to be feared. If one is among us, then they must be here to worm their way in and create chaos. Even though it’s been more than twenty years, every once in a while, the Academy seemed to admit one or two. But it’s never worked out. I think they do it just to prove the Morelli are naturally untrustworthy.” He shrugged. “As if to say, we tried, and the Morelli are still our enemy.”
It wasn’t fair. My mother hid her identity when she attended the academy. She dyed her hair and must have created a fake past for herself. How would she do that, and was she able to do it on her own? Aspen wouldn’t be able to answer any of these questions, so I was going to have to gather my courage and ask Nine and Professor Magnolis before long.
“Maybe I should create a little chaos.” I smirked. “Just to get her riled up, then prove her wrong about me.”
“Well.” Aspen patted his hands on his knees and stood. “The best way is to regain control of your magic. To do that, we need to practice.” He held out his hand, and with a deep, settling breath, I took it and stood.
He glanced around at the statues. “We’ve been doing too many boring spells. It’s no wonder that nothing has been connecting with you.” He returned his attention to me, and a twinkle shone in his eyes. “You wanting to meet here gave me an idea. The spell is a little beyond beginning spellcasting, but I thought it might be fun to try.” He reached for his book bag on the ground and pulled out an unfamiliar blue book. Before I could re
ad the title, he was flipping through the pages and seemed to land on the one he wanted.
My insides warmed at the idea that Aspen had been thinking about me and planning something special, even if it was in the context of tutoring. He could easily have stuck with the basics.
“I found this book in the library today.” He tipped the open tome toward me. The title of the spell at the top of the page read “Animation of Inanimate Objects.”
I scrunched my forehead in confusion. “What exactly do you want to animate?”
His lips stretched into a wry grin that made me want to feel those same lips on mine again. Aspen glanced at the statue of Borealis behind me.
My mouth dropped open. “Even if I could do it, there’s no way we’re allowed to animate any of these statues!”
“You’re the one who said you wanted to create some chaos.”
I formed my lips into a flatline. “Small chaos . . . controlled chaos.”
Aspen let out a hearty laugh and checked his watch. “We only have thirty-five minutes before dinner. I’m guessing that the chaos we can create by then is going to be pretty small.”
I peered around and saw that most of the drapes were shut in the chancellor’s building, including his, and no other students were around. The courtyard was mostly surrounded by a hedge that was over nine feet tall, so unless a person was inside or looking out from a window, no one was likely to see us.
“Fine, let’s do it.” My stomach twisted from nervousness and excitement.
Aspen straightened his back and held the book far out in front of him. “This particular spell takes a large amount of concentration.” He closed his eyes and drew in a long, steady breath before opening them again. I kept my attention trained on him in fascination, and my heart thudded against my rib cage.
He gazed at the page and then up at the statue of Archer Borealis with his cat in his arms.
“Expergiscimini et respirare.” Aspen spoke the words clearly and raised his free hand to the statue. Blue illuminated from his fingertips, and a trail of light slowly arced through the air until it met Archer Borealis’s raised stone arm. The light encircled the hand, and a few sparks of blue magic twinkled.
I held my breath and stood transfixed at the possibility that Aspen’s spell might work. The light made contact, and suddenly, the tip of the index finger moved. Wide-eyed, I let out a shriek, and a thud sounded to my side. Aspen had dropped the book.
“Josy, you broke my concentration.” All the magic was gone from his hand, and the book lay splayed out on the grass.
“Sorry, but that was amazing!” I hurried over to him and grabbed the book from the ground. “I want to try.”
Aspen quirked a brow. “So you do like a little chaos.”
“Maybe . . . if it’s just a little.” I sat and plopped the book into my lap.
“To do any spell you have to relax your body.” Aspen circled me and gave me the same instructions he’d always given.
I’d wished that magic would come as easily as it did during the battle with my uncle. But then I had no idea that I was using it. I’d thought that most of it was due to my ring, and when I’d absorbed the energy from all the others around me, I had no idea I was even using it—the magic just happened. Since then, when I tried even the simplest spells, it was a struggle.
Even so, I did what he said. I closed my eyes and allowed my breath to slow, and my racing thoughts did the same . . . sort of. I wasn’t that good at turning those off yet. I raised my hand out in front of me and felt for the potential magic inside of my body. Slowly I opened my eyes and dropped my gaze down to the open book and the animation spell. After I’d whispered the words quietly to myself a few times, I raised my attention to Archer Borealis, and particularly to his cat. I figured Nine would be especially proud if he knew that I’d animated a stone feline—that, and if by some miracle this did work, a stone cat come alive would probably be less conspicuous than a ten-foot man.
“Expergiscimini et respirare.” The words came out slowly as I stared intently at the cat’s stone eyes. My fingertips tingled, and I knew something more than just my hand falling asleep had to be happening.
My breath sped up, but I kept my attention locked onto the statue as the tingling spread through my palm and up my arm.
“It’s working, it’s working,” I whispered.
An illumination formed around the cat, and I slowly stood, eyes wide for what was going to happen next.
But it wasn’t the cat coming alive. Instead a high-pitched scream rang out and the cat’s tail hanging below Borealis’s arm made a popping sound and crumbled. It fell to the ground in hundreds of pieces.
I spun around to Aspen, knowing that scream hadn’t come from him. “What was that?”
Chapter 4
Aspen and I grabbed our things, leaving the broken statue behind, and raced from the courtyard to the building’s front. A large crowd was gathering about a hundred feet away, and I couldn’t get a view of what was going on even as we got closer.
“He’s dead!” someone shouted, and electricity traveled up my spine at the announcement.
“Who’s dead? Can you see anything?” Aspen was much taller than me, and I had hoped he might be able to figure out what was going on.
“There are too many people.” He continued forward, but something in me told me to stop. Maybe it was the students turning from the crowd and staring my way.
My heart dropped into my stomach. “Why are they looking at me?” I whispered under my breath, hoping I just imagined the glares. But more students turned to stare, and the crowd parted. Even from where I was, I could now clearly see what they were concealing. One of the guards the Directorate had assigned to the Academy, wearing a pair of dark-rimmed glasses, was kneeling next to a lifeless, salt and pepper bearded man dressed in a three-piece suit. A gold watch on a chain had fallen from the tweed suit pocket onto the ground.
Professor Lakeshore was dead?
Aspen turned, wide-eyed, and started toward me, but before he got far, I turned and ran.
“You better run, Morelli,” called a voice from behind that could only be Rosalee’s. Aspen might have called after me, too, but by then my senses were shutting down. Tunnel vision set in, and all I could do was try to make it back to the safety of my dorm room. Though I knew full well that it probably wasn’t safe, either.
Hot tears burned my eyes, and after what seemed like an hour, I burst through my door. As quickly as I could, I slammed it and latched the lock. I slid down to the floor, and tears gushed from my eyes.
“Josy!” Aspen’s voice resonated from the hall.
“Go away,” I sobbed.
“There’s no way you had anything to do with that. You were with me.”
“I’m sure Rosalee will figure out some way I was involved. You saw all of their faces.” I ran my hands over my face, and my breath shuddered. “Just go away. I need to be alone.”
The door shook slightly. Aspen must have leaned his hand or body against it. “Are you sure?”
The real answer was no. I wasn’t sure. “Go.”
“Fine. But I’m checking back later.” The door rattled again, and then silence.
I released a quivering breath and looked up. Merrygold stood before me, her brows drawn.
“What’s going on?” she asked, with genuine compassion in her tone.
But instead of reliving the whole awful day and telling her, I simply stood and walked over to my bed. Once there, I flopped face down and buried my face in my pillow.
Merrygold didn’t say anything else, but I felt her presence next to me. It could have been my imagination, but I could even feel her stroking my hair like my grandma used to do when I was sick or upset. For however long it was she stayed there, not saying a word.
“Attention, please,” came the same disembodied announcement voice I’d heard when I first arrived at the school. “Due to unforeseen events, classes will be canceled for the rest of the week. Your regular class sch
edule will resume next Monday unless otherwise announced. Thank you.”
“I’d guess that whatever that’s about has to do with why you’re so upset,” Merrygold said.
I rolled over onto my back and sighed. “I’m pretty sure Professor Lakeshore is dead.”
A line of confusion formed between her brows. “Lakeshore was a nice guy, but I can’t imagine you’d be this broken up about it.”
“They think I killed him.”
Merrygold’s breath hitched, and then her lips flatlined. “That’s ridiculous—and who thinks you killed him?”
Pretty much the entire student body. Nine leaped onto the bed and without any sort of permission walked up the center of my body and lowered himself directly on my chest.
“Where have you been?” Merrygold scolded. “Josy needed you.”
Nine tipped his head at Merrygold. I was out digging up information. Everyone was so wrapped up in this murder business, no one even noticed me skulking around.
I picked up Nine, only to plop him down next to me and then sat up.
Rude. Nine drew back his ears.
I ignored his remark. “So they really think I had something to do with it?”
Your name came up. He twisted and used his tongue to groom at the base of his tail.
“Like, expelled . . . or arrested kind of mentioned?” Merrygold and I both stared at the cat, waiting for an answer.
Finally, Nine stopped licking and turned his attention to us. What? My tail was dirty.
“What else did you find out?” Merrygold demanded.
Oh, right. Looks like this Professor Lakeshore guy was walking along the path and just keeled over. The word is he was poisoned.
My conversation with the professor about poisonous plants whirled through my mind. “That’s not possible.”
Merrygold stood from my bed and paced. “Why not?”
Spellcaster Academy: Episodes 1-4 (Spellcaster Academy Omnibus) Page 11