Something Wicked

by Emma Dean

  “Now, we’re going to start with Morning Glory. It’s toxic, but it doesn’t usually kill. The fascinating thing about the Morning Glory is it’s one of those flowers that can cause hallucinations. The seeds contain a chemical similar to that of LSD.” The professor walked around the greenhouse, setting pots of the flower on each worktable.

  Mika sat on the stool and ignored Ethan next to her as best as she could. She forced herself to pay attention to the professor, even though this was hardly advanced.

  Hopefully they’d get into more dangerous plants as the semester went on.

  “You don’t need to wear gloves for these, but I advise you scrub down after every class. Now,” Professor Hayes snapped, whipping around to study Mika.

  What she’d done to gain her attention she had no idea.

  “Morning glory is used in a few different types of spells and potions. The most popular is an infusion, but philtres are also common. Ms. Marshall, name one for me.”

  She must have seen Mika’s test scores. Professor Hayes was one of the more strict professors or so Mika had heard, but she was also one of the best. Had she known she’d be instantly singled out…maybe she would have avoided this class.

  “Obfusca,” she murmured. “It makes a person confused if made with sea water. If the potion is made with river water it can remove memories. Officially, it is not a curse, but it’s also not a healing potion.”

  The professor narrowed her eyes and then smiled. “I’m pleased to see you’re just as good as your test results indicated. Welcome to Morgana, Ms. Marshall.”

  Too many people were looking at her.

  Mika dropped her gaze to the flower and its deep purple petals. Ethan chose just then to lean in closer to her. Instantly she stiffened as the scent of his cologne reached her nose.

  “Who are you here to kill?” he whispered.

  What?

  Her eyes snapped to his and there was laughter there, like this was some hilarious joke. “Excuse me?”

  “Normal people don’t take Advanced Poisons in their first semester.” Ethan pulled out a sketchbook and started drawing the morning glory. “Unless it’s your specialty I guess.”

  “It’s not.” Mika couldn’t believe how green his eyes looked in this light, and how even in the dead of winter his skin was still slightly tanned. “But it’s one of the few things I’m good at.”

  Ethan smiled at that, glancing at her as he drew. “I’m an Herbology major. Is the Marshall Greenhouse in San Francisco as amazing as I hear?”

  So he did know who she was. Ugh, Mika wished she could just be a normal witch for once. But high society witches all knew each other. Which meant Ethan wasn’t from the West Coast. So who was he?

  Ellington wasn’t a familiar clan name either.

  Why herbology?

  “So who are you here to kill?” she asked, plucking one of the flowers as instructed so she could separate the parts.

  “I just like plants. There’s something so beautiful in something that has such variance. Some are deadly and some can save you. Only knowledge can tell you which one.” Ethan smiled at her then and there was something about the way his hair fell into his eyes.

  Mika wanted to reach out and brush it back, maybe trace those glorious eyebrows, and his unfairly long eyelashes.

  Fuck.

  This wasn’t why she was here.

  She went back to placing the petals in one bowl and the seeds in another. Two different potions – one to take something away, and one to give something back. There was beauty in the duality, she’d give Ethan that.

  His poetic ass was going to be the death of her if she didn’t pay attention.

  The class was two hours long and they went through the basic poisonous flowers, how to handle them, what they could be used for, and how one would prepare them as ingredients for future use. Mika went through the motions, doing her best to ignore Ethan next to her.

  It was all basic stuff she knew anyway. Her mother had taught her all this and more by the time she was ten. Their greenhouse had a poison garden just like this one did. It rivaled some of the greats around the world.

  “Don’t worry, we’re supposed to learn how to grow and tend nightshade and hemlock this semester,” Ethan said with a little smirk. “Morning glory is pretty tame in comparison.”

  How boring. Mika was hoping they’d get to work with the Manchineel tree, fondly nicknamed the ‘little apple of death.’ It was one of the few her mother hadn’t let her near since it could blister skin in seconds.

  Snakeroot and oleander were also some of her favorites, but Mika had been hoping for something truly exotic.

  “I heard someone is trying to crossbreed poisons,” Ethan murmured. “Would that be more interesting for you?”

  Mika whipped her gaze to his and narrowed her eyes. “You think I’m some kind of black widow?”

  “I think you like dangerous things.” Ethan didn’t blink as he held her gaze. “Am I wrong?”

  She didn’t say anything to that. They didn’t even know each other. Mika owed him no explanation.

  But he wasn’t wrong.

  6

  The piece of paper in her pocket had been difficult to ignore. Mika supposed she could have left it in her dorm room, but something had compelled her to keep it on her person.

  After her Advanced Poisons class, she’d gone to change and the morning glory Ethan drew had fallen out of the pocket on her coveralls. The flower was exquisitely done and in perfect detail. And so were her studious profiles.

  Mika had nearly tossed it in the fireplace, but something about the way he saw her kept her from doing it.

  Seeing herself through someone else’s eyes was rare and she’d only ever really seen it once in a photograph taken by her ex-boyfriend. In his eyes she was ethereal, fairy-like, and she’d been laughing in the watery springtime sun.

  Ethan’s drawing was a totally different version of her Mika didn’t know if she was ready to accept. He saw her as angry by the glare on her face – how she narrowed her eyes at the plant. But somehow he’d also captured the fear and grief she usually hid in one of those profiles – one where he’d caught her giving him a sideways glance.

  Mika held the paper in her pocket and tried to focus on interdimensional physics, but it was a lost cause. And this was no easy first week. Each class had jumped right into the meat of the subject.

  “Everything okay?” Ryan asked, setting a quiz down on her desk. “You seem distracted.”

  Mika looked up into those devastating blue eyes and recognized the guy who’d welcomed her to the university. His black hair was shaggy like Ethan’s but straight, and he wasn’t as tall, but…those shoulders.

  Was this seriously the girl she was going to be? The girl who was won over with some pretty eyes or a drawing?

  “I’m fine,” Mika snapped. “What are you even doing here?”

  Ryan’s dark eyebrows shot up but he didn’t say anything about her attitude. He just pushed the quiz closer. “I TA for this class. Good luck, Mika.” Then he turned and walked down the stairs toward the podium where the professor was explaining how he just wanted to see where they were on the basics.

  Mika ignored the other students near her who were eyeing her like she was a bitch and took out her favorite pen. Her father gave it to her when she’d graduated high school. She kept it to remind her everything was a lie – even a kind gesture.

  And yet there were people in this university who seemed bound and determined to prove her wrong.

  Audrey at least she believed for the most part. Mika was still wary of that girl. They barely knew each other, and until she knew what made Audrey tick she could still be surprised by something the other witch might do.

  Sighing and starting on the first question, she tried not to think how badly witch society had fucked her up.

  The reason Selene was so normal and nice was Kenzie had mostly raised her.

  Mika had Claire, but not really. Claire had always been
into her own stuff. Her sister loved witch society. She loved the parties and the hierarchy and the power their clan wielded. It was a miracle she wasn’t a total bitch.

  Their mother had done a good job – but it was always their clan against the world. She’d sown distrust into them very young. Other witch clans would always want what they had – or so she’d said.

  Mika chewed on her lip and frowned. These questions were hard. Basics her ass.

  She pulled out her calculator and started running the equations for building a portal from this plane to hell, large enough to transport two people at once.

  This was the kind of magic she loved. It was hard, but safe and predictable. If she got it right the spell would work exactly the way it was supposed to every time. Physics could be bent and remade with a few runes and the right equation – but there was always an answer.

  It wasn’t like her ‘gift’ at all.

  Ten questions later she was done. Mika looked up and saw she was the first to finish.

  There was no way she was going to be the first to get up after her little scene. She sighed again and wished she could get her shit together. Was there a tincture for that? Maybe a charm.

  Someone else stood up and Mika used that opportunity to do so as well. It was easier to hide if she wasn’t the only one moving. In a class of thirty she still felt conspicuous. But there were other high society clan witches here. They just seemed far more at home than she did.

  Maybe if she wasn’t the only Bay Coven witch in the freshman class it would feel less weird.

  No one knew what it was like to have their coven ripped apart by betrayal – by the males they trusted the most in the world.

  If she couldn’t trust her father and brother – what man could she trust?

  Ryan smiled at her as she set the quiz on the professor’s desk where he sat and instantly started grading it. “If you wait a second I can get this back to you right now.”

  Mika glanced at the other student and saw him waiting while the professor graded his at the podium. If this was the norm, waiting would bring less attention to her. The last thing she needed was someone else to ask her what her specialty was.

  Not that saying anything would help. There were no classes on what she could do – not really. Mika had already looked.

  “This is excellent work,” Ryan told her, sounding impressed. “Your methodology is a bit different than what we teach here, but it’s effective. Who taught you?”

  “My father,” she murmured, taking the quiz back from him. “98%? Why not 100% if I got all the questions correct?”

  “Your first answer assumed both people were witches. You didn’t account for anyone who might be larger, like a shifter. It’s always best to make sure a portal has more room than required – though I have to say your equations are extremely precise. It’s just rare you’ll know the exact height and weight of each person.”

  Ryan smiled up at her and Mika was instantly drowning in those inky blue depths.

  Stupid hormones.

  She turned and made her way back up the stairs to her spot in the very back. The wooden desks were old and made of ash. The blue velvet seating looked like it had been replaced recently as well as the stuffing.

  The stadium seating was in a semi-circle around the platform placed at the very bottom, and then cut into three sections so there was minimal climbing over other people. She watched Ryan sitting at the professor’s desk, grading quizzes as they were brought down to him. Professor Temples was doing the same at the podium.

  It hadn’t snowed yet today, but it was darker than it should have been for a midday class. The wood and stone gothic architecture was Mika’s constant mood. It was dark and gloomy and loomed over everything in this place, but it was also beautiful in a heart wrenching romantic kind of way.

  Like every romantic tragedy was steeped into the stone itself.

  She looked at Ryan’s handwriting on her quiz. It was barely legible, but confident and sure in his corrections. On the last page he’d written a little note: ‘You can apologize for your attitude with a muffin the next time I see you.’

  Mika slammed the paper down and crossed her arms over her chest. She wanted to glare at Ryan from across the classroom but that wouldn’t make anyone think she was any less crazy and Mika didn’t want rumors spreading about her and Ryan.

  Asshole had basically demanded a date and an apology in the same breath. Assumptive prick.

  She pulled out her phone and texted Audrey. Anything to distract herself from the hottie stealing glances at her.

  Ryan looked up at her again. Mika wondered what he saw.

  Did he see the sad girl hiding in fear? Or did he see something else entirely?

  Professor Temples adjusted his glasses and smiled up at them. “Let’s begin.”

  7

  “Did you know that the cemetery on the island was here before the school was?” Audrey asked as they made their way from the dorms through the trees. “It dates all the way back to the Vikings.”

  Mika hunched her shoulders against the cold and buried her face in her scarf. “It’s weird they even have a cemetery here since witches are cremated.”

  Snow crunched under their boots, but otherwise it was silent. Occasionally Mika could hear the hoot of an owl, but this deep into winter there wasn’t much wildlife out and about. Plus there was something about this cemetery – the very air had some kind of essence she couldn’t put her finger on.

  “The university pays for the John and Jane Doe’s to be buried here so we can use their bones and bodies for various different spells and such.” Audrey shrugged like it was no big deal, but glanced over her shoulder as they got closer.

  Essentially buying dead bodies legally was creepy. Effective, but creepy.

  Mika stopped when the trees thinned almost suddenly, like there was a line she couldn’t see. Headstones and crypts dotted the clear acre of land like small, stone trees. That weird feeling grew stronger, almost like the air was stale despite being outside. She could practically taste the bone dust.

  Wrinkling her nose, she glanced sideways at Audrey. “Are you ready?”

  The other witch nodded and pulled her shoulder-length hair back into a ponytail. “Yeah, I’ve been practicing.”

  Mika checked the space one last time. “Do you want to put up a shield or something?”

  Audrey glanced at her then. There was that suspicion. But she didn’t say anything. One of these days she was going to. Mika knew it was only a matter of time. Because despite being in four classes together she’d never seen Mika do magic.

  And people did magic at the university all the time.

  “Yeah I can do that, good idea.” Audrey twisted her fingers in the correct pattern and whispered a few words. It was rather simple, but Audrey had so much power that Mika could feel the strength in the shield. Not many would be able to get through it.

  “For someone born outside a clan you’ve got more magic than most witches I’ve met,” Mika told her. “It’ll help make this place easier to bear I’m sure.”

  Audrey shrugged and gave her a half smile. “Having such a prestigious witch for a friend helps too.”

  Mika didn’t smile back, but she knew it was true no matter how much she hated it. Audrey would always be an outsider until she joined a coven, and even then… “If people are assholes tell me. It’s against school policy to discriminate and a little belladonna goes a long way.”

  Her dorm mate didn’t laugh. She just nodded, because they’d both learned enough about each other over the last three days to know…Mika knew how to make someone suffer without killing them.

  “Now, show me what you can do.” Mika pulled one glove off. “We’re going to do a little one on one.” Then she pulled off the other and set them on top of a nearby headstone. “We have a few hours before my swordsmanship class. Will you meet me after so we can head to Sumerian together?”

  “Are you kidding? I’m totally sitting in on that class.” Audr
ey laughed and started drawing runes in the air. A quick twist and the lines now glowed in the snow, creating a temporary field. “But yeah, I’ll walk you to Sumerian. The language wing is clear across campus. Your little thirty minute window is going to bite you in the ass one day.”

  “Probably,” Mika agreed. “You know the three shields allowed for blocking right?”

  “Duh.” Audrey rolled her eyes. “That’s always the first thing taught.”

  “For a good reason.” Mika flexed her fingers and rolled her head to the right and then to the left, loosening up the tight muscles. Her anxiety was trying to rear its ugly head, but no one was going to be touching her and Audrey was more powerful than she was when it came to shields.

  The main reason Mika didn’t want to join the team other than her little issue – even though she still desperately wanted to tryout just to see if she was good enough – was because her defensive magic was shit. Anything that was considered ‘neutral,’ ‘benign,’ or ‘defensive’ and she froze up. Part of it was her fear, and part of it was she could never get in the right head space.

  “First hit and the round is done. Follow the rules, and try not to accidentally kill me,” Mika told Audrey.

  Just by the way the other witch was standing Mika knew she would have to shield first, but her hunter training was good for many things.

  “Ready?” Audrey asked, twisting her fingers to create a clock for round one.

  “Don’t hold back.” Mika knew the other witch was nervous. She could practically smell it. Audrey had never seen her do a spell. Very few had, and that made most witches very nervous.

  A snap of Audrey’s fingers and the bell clanged in the empty clearing.

  Audrey came at her with an offensive spell, but Mika had been expecting it. She spun to the left and twisted her fingers in the right shape and threw the spell hard – no words spoken. The look of shock on Audrey’s face when she just barely got her shield up in time told Mika everything she needed to know.

  Her dorm mate hadn’t believed she could throw battle magic.