Second Chance Heat, a reverse harem magical academy HEA paranormal romance: Book Four of the Second Chance Academy Series

by Ella J. Smyth

  Nobody was spending any money on the facilities, but my high school had been even more neglected, so it didn’t bother me. An owl hooted in the forest behind the school, and I reveled in the peacefulness of the night. It was easy to forget how much danger my friends were in, and how desperate I was for information about the disembodied voices that kept vexing me.

  A breeze moved the tips of the trees, but I couldn’t feel the air brush past my skin. It pulled me back to my untenable situation and the danger my friends were in. After overhearing Odwell's and Denholm’s warnings, I was as keen as they were to find a place for them to shelter. Amber had told me about the cellar underneath the academy building.

  Sibelius, our Elemental teacher, had died there, so the cavernous underground rooms were out as a hideout. We'd never gotten to the bottom of who exactly had killed him, even though Amber had overheard Lawson and her former teacher basically copping to it.

  But I still wanted to check them out. Following Amber’s example, I entered the cellar through the closed coal chute doors. Once inside, I waited for my eyes to adjust. They never did.

  Somehow, I’d assumed, as a ghost, I’d be able to see in the dark. Turned out I couldn’t. After hanging in the air for several seconds in the pitch dark, I realized this was not going to work. So I backed out and reconsidered. There was nowhere in the academy my friends could hide safely. Every building was in use.

  But there was one thing that had been nagging me ever since I’d arrived. The Academy employed a lot of staff—secretaries, handymen, and security people. They showed up in the morning and left after their shifts were over. They had to have been staying somewhere since we were so far away from the nearest town.

  What was the quickest way to find their quarters? Maybe if I circled the academy in ever-widening rounds? That would take more time than I had. I thought long and hard.

  I wasn’t bound by my physical body anymore as I’d proven time and time again by floating through solid walls. Maybe I could figure out a way to speed things up?

  I visualized a point at the other side of the campus and moved. My vision blurred for a moment, and when I came to a halt, I looked back. Wow. I’d literally covered a distance of seven hundred yards in a second. Pleased that I’d discovered some benefit to my new form, I flitted back again. This was fun. I briefly considered floating into the girls’ bedrooms, but discarded that thought right away. “Don't be stupid, Julian. You're not fifteen anymore.”

  I wouldn’t have had time anyway. There was a red sheen behind the academy, indicating dawn was approaching quickly. I returned to my plan of rounding the main building in ever increasing concentric circles. Soon, I moved beyond the forest’s edge without having discovered the sleeping quarters whereabouts.

  Finally, a squat one-storey building came into view, about a mile north of the academy. If I hadn't looked for it, I could've easily missed it in the dark. The construction was much like the overflow classrooms in the center of the academy wings.

  The blockhouse was large enough to sleep maybe ten people. The windows were dark, and when I floated through the wall, the building had an abandoned feel to it. The air smelled stale. There was just enough light to see that the beds were stripped down to the mattresses, and the kitchen was spotless with no food or dishes anywhere to be seen.

  This would be perfect. A fine layer of dust covered the surfaces, further evidence the hut was not currently being used. The more I thought about it, the better I liked it. Hiding right under Lawson's nose, he wouldn't expect Amber and the guys to be here. And I'd never heard any of the students talk about a house in the forest. We’d been discouraged from exploring too far from the school grounds.

  If we walked too far outside of the allowed perimeter, in the west, a magically enhanced chain-link fence stopped us. If we explored north, Lawson’s men challenged us without fail. It had never occurred to me to wonder why those men had been there. I’d just accepted it, like I had everything else at the academy. But their job had been to guard their quarters and not let us near.

  I wasn’t worried about the door being locked. Amber had plenty of juice to melt the whole damn door if need be. As before, I focused on where I wanted to go, and within a few seconds, I found myself back outside my old bedroom. Just in time. The door opened, and my friends tiptoed along the hallway to the exit.

  Amber walked straight through me in the narrow space. I gasped, expecting to feel something, but there was nothing. Disappointment descended on me like a fire blanket, extinguishing the euphoria I’d carried with me from my discovery.

  Amber shuddered and whispered, “Somebody just walked over my grave.”

  Macha swerved around me. He stopped and turned around. In the twilight, his pupils were so dilated, his blue eyes looked black. Whether it was the residue of Farkas's spell, it gave him better eyesight than his friends.

  Before he could move on, I said, “I discovered a place for you to hide. If you follow me, I guide you there.”

  Macha hurried to catch up with Amber.

  “Wait,” he called. His language was a lot clearer than even a couple of hours ago. His gait was more steady as well.

  Outside the building, Amber stopped. “What is it?”

  Macha took her hand, and after a moment, Amber followed him as he led the way. He pushed past Kiernan and Lance to take the lead. I floated ahead of them, mindful not to go too fast.

  “Where the hell are you leading us, cat boy?”

  Amber looked over her shoulder at Lance. “Don’t call him that. It’s hurtful.”

  Lance looked a little contrite. “Sorry, Macha. It slipped out.”

  “Macha, can you tell us where we’re going?” Amber asked.

  Macha shook his head. He still followed me, increasing his speed, until he and Amber were running. I kept forgetting how quickly I could move and had to force myself to slow down. It was still dark in the forest, although the sun had lifted itself above the horizon. Kiernan and Lance were grumbling but followed us.

  Eventually, though, Kiernan complained. “Will you slow the fuck down? If you don't tell us where you’re taking us, I'm not taking another step.”

  Macha hissed but didn't stop. Before it could come to an argument, the hut came into view among the trees.

  Lance whistled. “I had no clue this was here. What is it?”

  Amber shrugged. “I never made it this far. But apparently Macha knew it was here.”

  Macha shook his head. “Not me. Him. Julian.”

  Amber’s eyes grew large, and she pressed her lips together so tightly they nearly disappeared in her face. Kiernan and Lance exchanged glances, but neither of them said a word. A wave of sadness rolled over me. Was my memory not worth even mentioning my name? Come to think of it, none of them had spoken much about me. I filed the emotions away to examine later, when I was alone again.

  When we got to the house, Amber shook the handle, but the door was firmly locked. Kiernan looked through a window. ”I can’t see much from here, but it seems empty. There is no sign of anybody living here.”

  Amber pulled Macha away from the door. “Stand back.”

  She lifted her finger, and sparks danced on the tip. When she pressed her hand against the lock, there was a smell of hot metal, and the click of the breaking lock sounded like a gunshot through the stillness.

  We all froze, even me. When nothing moved, Amber tried the handle again, and this time, the door opened.

  Satisfied they were safe for the moment, I watched them settle in before floating off. I wanted to explore more, now that I could move quickly from place to place. Maybe there were others like me. Either way, I needed to figure out what to do about my predicament.

  9

  Julian

  I arrived back at the school within seconds. The campus was still empty, although some early risers were jogging, circling the campus. As I floated past the library, something tugged on me. It was an insistent pull, a nagging feeling that got worse as I moved past the
building.

  Curious, I glided through the front door. Inside the building, the pull grew until I drifted toward it without even trying. Soon, I found myself at the very back of the library. Beyond where Kiernan, Amber, and I had studied so many hours at the end of the last term, there was an unassuming door. I’d always thought it might lead to an archive or maybe a staff restroom.

  I’d tried opening it once, but since it had been locked, I’d lost interest. This time, I allowed the pull to take me through the door. On the other side, there was a spiral staircase, leading down from the floor I was on.

  It was dark in here, although there were cuts in the walls in regular intervals, allowing some daylight to filter in. I was grateful for the dim visibility it provided. I wasn’t afraid of falling down the stairs. But it was too easy to accidentally float through the thick wall and lose myself completely.

  I descended one floor, then another, and still the pull grew stronger. When I finally reached the bottom of the stairs, I found myself in a circular room. The light in here wasn’t strong enough to illuminate every detail, but enough to make out walls lined with shelves. Every single book looked like it was at least two centuries old.

  “This must be Denholm’s private collection,” I whispered.

  “You're right. Denholm keeps his most treasured and dangerous volumes down here.”

  If I were still human, I might have had a heart attack. Whirling around to see who was there, some kind of fog hovered next to me.

  “Who are you?” I asked, my voice shaking.

  The mist shifted and shimmered, creating whirls. “I used to be a student at the academy, but I died right after Farkas took over.”

  As I waited for more information, the fog shifted again in a motion that felt like a shrug. “I don’t remember much. Time has got no meaning here. But I do remember President Clinton having an affair when I died.”

  “Clinton? That can’t be right. The Academy’s only been in operation since the Super-CEMP.”

  The voice seemed confused. “What's a Super-CEMP?”

  “You know. The Catastrophic Explosion of Magical Particles. The reason we’re all here.”

  The mist wobbled. “No, can't say I heard of it. I remember the papers being full of Clinton and his intern. Anyway, I got sent here by my parents, but I discovered something I shouldn't have. Farkas made sure I couldn't tell anybody.”

  I was still skeptical, despite everything she’d done to us. “So, what? She had you killed?”

  The cloud chuckled, although it wasn't a happy sound. “No, she didn't have me killed. She did the job herself. She called me into her office and asked me to look out the window. The next thing I knew, the ground came towards me.”

  “Shit, I'm sorry.”

  “It's not your fault.” The dead kid sounded so matter-of-fact, as if he’d accepted what he’d become. I could never do that. But apparently, he’d been like this for decades. Because Clinton had been in office in the 80s, hadn’t he? “So, you must have been here for thirty years.”

  “If you say so. I stopped counting after a while.”

  I didn’t dare move in case I scared him off. Maybe I’d found someone who could give me an insight into my condition. “What’s your name?”

  “Does it matter?”

  I didn’t know what to say to that. The fog drifted away, spreading thin, then bunching up again. I couldn’t leave without satisfying my curiosity. “What do I look like to you?”

  “What do you want to hear? You look like a person, only transparent.”

  “I don't want to be offensive, but you look like a cloud to me.”

  This time, the kid’s voice sounded sad. “Yeah. I suppose I lasted longer than most. It's because I stay down here, mind my own business, and bear no ill will towards my killer.”

  Wasn’t that what the voices had told me? That it was our emotions that turned us into something bad.

  The ghost boy’s voice became fainter, and he thinned out, moving towards the back wall.

  “Please, don’t go yet.”

  The swirling fog stopped and sighed. “Make it quick, okay? I bet you have questions. But I can feel your rage and pain, and I don't want to be affected by it. That's how you turn into them.”

  His voice dropped on the last word as if he were telling me a horrible secret. Even though they weren’t here, the thought of the disembodied voices made me breathe quicker. “I know what you mean by ‘them.’ Okay, I make it quick. Who are they, and how can I avoid becoming like them?”

  The kid sounded scared, and his voice dropped even lower. “They’re called ‘Lobhadh Ocrach.’ It means ‘Decaying Hunger.’ Once the transformation is complete, everything you touch is corrupted as you suck the life force from it.”

  An icy terror ran through me. I knew what that felt like. I'd experienced it in the forest when Amber had given me a bunch of flowers. I'd been touched by the sweet gesture, but the moment my skin had touched the wildflowers, the plants had melted into a stinky black goo. Was I really destined to turn into, what had he called it, an ‘Lobhadh Ocrach?’

  “How do I avoid that? I don't want to hurt my friends or anybody.”

  The cloud wobbled in approval. “That's a start. You have to learn to forgive and not allow your anger to overtake you.”

  I laughed mirthlessly. “That's easier said than done. This woman, Farkas, is likely responsible for the death of many kids like you. I really want to stop her.”

  “Yeah, that's how it begins. If you allow your feelings of revenge to fester and grow, it will consume you.”

  The dead kid shifted again slowly towards the far wall, and as I watched, he dissolved into the stone.

  “So my options are to do nothing and turn into something like you? Or to hold on to my hatred against Farkas and turn into something like them?”

  But I got no answer to my question. The kid had disappeared, and I was alone in Denholm's secret room.

  10

  Amber

  “Macha, how did you know this was here?”

  He ignored my question, just like the last three times I'd asked. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised. As a cat, Macha had spent night after night exploring the academy grounds.

  But as far as I remembered, he’d always been afraid of the forest and stayed well away from it. As Slug, he’d been far larger than an average tomcat. Still, he wouldn't have been a match against a stray wolf or coyote. I'd watched him explore the Academy many times, and not once had he veered beyond the edges of the forest.

  Macha had claimed one of the beds and was curled up. His eyes were closed, but I suspected he pretended to be asleep to get away from my questions.

  I gave up. It didn't matter anyway. I had a good feeling about this place. It clearly hadn't been used for quite a while, and Lance and Kiernan had pushed three beds together to create one giant platform for all of us.

  I surrendered to a big, long yawn. Last night, I hadn’t gotten much sleep, and it was still early morning. Lance must have been reading my mind. “I'll keep watch if you guys want to nap.”

  Kiernan dropped on the bed, wincing as he bounced. “Yeah, okay. I could do with some more kip.”

  There were dark rings under his eyes, and he grimaced when he thought we weren’t looking. Even though he was healing at a phenomenal rate, it hadn't even been two full days since an arrow had cut through muscle and blood vessels in his shoulder. He still had some healing to do.

  Lance had found some sheets in a closet. They were clean but smelled of dust. I didn’t mind. Crawling onto the middle bed, I stretched out. Kiernan rolled onto his good shoulder. He leaned in and gently kissed me. I bent my head to bring my mouth into a better position and allowed him to take the lead.

  Lance sat on the other side of the bed. Kiernan pulled away from me. “I thought you were going to stand watch?”

  Lance grinned. “I can see perfectly out of the window from here.”

  Kiernan went back to teasing my tongue with hi
s until I was breathless and out of control. I breezed deeply and savored Kiernan's scent of cool moss and damp earth. His presence never failed to calm me when I felt on edge. Rolling back onto his side, he rested his head in his hand, propped up on his elbow. “You're so beautiful. I can’t tell you how much I missed you when I was with my family.”

  I smiled. The way he looked at me, his gaze was full of emotion, tinged with pain. There was a gaping hole in our group, one I wasn’t sure we’d ever get past. I pushed thoughts of Julian aside. I didn't want to ruin the moment.

  Another body pressed itself against my side. I turned my head and there was Lance, only inches away. He placed a finger on the bridge of my nose and ran it down to the tip. Smiling, he traced my lips and brushed his fingers against my neck.

  “Are you still watching outside the window?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Sure. Doesn’t mean I can’t watch you two as well. Don't worry, I'm not gonna be distracted. If anybody approaches our hideout, I’ll know.”

  He kissed me gently and heaved himself off the bed, assuming his previous position by the window.

  “That leaves the two of us.” Kiernan's voice had dropped to a seductive murmur as he nuzzled against my ear. His hand brushed against a nipple, and I threw my head back, moaning in the back of my throat. His thumb flipped over the bud again and again until it stood to attention, aching for a firmer touch. This was torture. I rubbed my legs together, creating friction.

  Kiernan pulled his hand back, a look of regret on his face.

  “What is it?”

  “I can’t put any weight on the shoulder yet.”

  I didn't understand the problem. “So?”

  He hesitated. “If I can’t lean on my shoulder, I can't make love to you.”

  Lance laughed. “Such a romantic, Hennessy. You do realize there are more ways to fuck than missionary?”

  Kiernan's ears burned red, and he scowled. “I know that. I just think Amber deserves more.”