Lorelei's School of Deviltry, Semester One: An Academy for Supernaturals

by SF Benson

“There’s a debate coming up. I have to worry about it.”

  He reached over and squeezed my hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “We have—”

  “We can miss one class. I want to talk to you alone.”

  “Nice idea, but how do we leave here without someone seeing us?”

  “Do you trust me?”

  Although my gut was screaming not to, I said I did.

  We stood up.

  “Put your arms around my neck. Hold on tight.”

  Milos lifted me up and took off. We moved so fast that everything blurred. The smell of grass was the only way I knew we’d made it outside. Then, I sniffed something earthy like algae. Everything came into focus as he stopped.

  All I had seen on the campus was the drab and dreary. Our dorms were archaic. Even the buildings housing the classrooms and library were nothing to scream home about. But the spot Milos took me to was drop-dead gorgeous.

  Leaves of every shade of green provided a lush surrounding for the area. The trees were so tall I couldn’t see the upper branches.

  Milos sat near a pond of water so blue it didn’t look real. He patted the ground beside him.

  “How does this place even exist?” I said, kneeling upon the velvet-like grass.

  “The Healers and the Mages are responsible for it. They claim the spot helps to center them.”

  It was a concept I was familiar with. Back in Falls Creek, there were members of the Blue Moon Coven who said the same thing about the Mohawk River.

  Overhead, birds sang happily. It was the first joyous sound I’d heard since coming to Lorelei’s.

  Milos cleared his voice. “What exactly was on the video?”

  “The library... the study room... It was enough for Alistair to warn me about being alone with you.”

  “And yet you’re here.”

  True.

  “Well, I do owe you an apology for last night.”

  It was more than an obligation. Milos was easy to talk to. Besides, I’d never been prejudiced against vamps. Sure, there were rules in Falls Creek. Our Council didn’t approve of the different races intermingling. But I didn’t share their belief. It was why I joined Supes and Humans United. I figured if I worked hard enough that the various races would open their collective eyes and get rid of the divisiveness.

  “Milos, do you think I have a chance to win the election?”

  He shrugged. “It all depends on the debate. Your speech will have to be strong and very persuasive.”

  I nodded. “But how do we stop Kamila and her vendetta?”

  “That’s a deeper issue. Once you’re elected, we can take it to the headmistress.”

  Tilting my head to one side, I said, “So I have to hold a position before we can take this to her?”

  “It’ll give you a voice. Right now, you’re just another student.” Milos dipped his hand into the water and let his fingers trail through it. Rainbow-colored ripples moved across the surface. “What do you want to do about the video?”

  “Huh?” Weren’t we talking about Kamila?

  He glanced over at me with a pinched expression. “Did you agree to stay away from me?”

  “No. Alistair said if I refused to listen to him that we should at least stay away from cameras.”

  “Okay.” Milos’s eyes darted around the area, and then he placed a finger over his lips.

  I didn’t have a vamp’s keen hearing, but supersonic skills weren’t required to pick up on the twig breaking in the distance. Milos helped me stand, picked me up, and took off running.

  He set me down in a copse of trees nearby. We waited and watched. It didn’t take long before the Barbie doll vamp made her presence known. Kamila tossed her golden locks off her shoulder and looked around. She pursed her lips.

  “Milos, I know you’re here. You might as well come out and bring the skank too.”

  He mouthed the words, Stay put, and then stepped into the clearing. “What do you want, Kamila?”

  “Fraternizing with Lilin? Have you lost your ever-loving mind? Or maybe you’re just bored?”

  I waited for Milos to stand up for me, but those words never came. Although I knew not to trust a vamp, it didn’t prevent the painful tightening in my throat.

  “Don’t be stupid, Kamila. I was just checking out the competition.”

  That was all I needed to hear. I was nobody’s fool.

  Chapter Eleven

  But I felt like a gigantic fool as I sat behind a tree waiting for Milos and Kamila to move on. Naturally, they couldn’t just walk away.

  “So…” Kamila purred. “Is the succubus a real threat?”

  Milos hesitated for a moment and then said, “She could be. Lilith is smart. This isn’t her first time in politics.”

  “Are you talking about that asinine group of upstarts? Nobody listens to them,” Kamila complained.

  “You’re wrong there. Plenty of supes listen to them, including our own kind.”

  Nice to know that the backstabber was listening.

  “Well, none of that matters. Once I’m elected, we’ll get those pesky Lilin off our campus.”

  When Milos didn’t say another word, I peeked around the tree. They were both standing with their backs to me. He had his hands tucked into his pockets and his head down.

  “It won’t be that easy,” he said.

  Kamila grabbed his arm. “What did you do?”

  He looked down at her hand. “I told her the truth.”

  “You bastard! How could you?” She lowered her hand. “You like her, don’t you?”

  I held my breath. It was Milos’s last chance to prove to me that he was on my side.

  “Lilith’s not what you think,” he admitted.

  “You’re an idiot! She’s the enemy!” Kamila began pacing. “This is why you betrayed me? For a succubus?”

  He simply stood quietly.

  A low growl came from Miss Vamptastic. She balled her fists and stomped divots in the ground. Finally, Kamila stopped in front of Milos. “You can fix this. Switch sides. Go to Professor Malachi—”

  “I won’t.”

  “Have it your way, Milos Petrovich. Continue to defy me, and you’ll go down with her.”

  Milos held his head back as if he was looking up at the sky. “Do what you have to do, Kamila.”

  “I’ll tell—”

  “Tell whoever you like!” His gaze snapped to hers. “Lilith has my support.”

  She growled again and then rushed off.

  I leaned back against the tree. Milos was on my side. Deep down, I wanted to believe it. Part of me, however, wondered if I should embrace that belief.

  “You can, Lilith.” His voice was near my ear.

  Moving suddenly, I snagged my jacket on the tree bark. “Stop reading my thoughts, Milos.”

  He ran his fingers over the pulled thread on my sleeve. “The gremlins who run the kitchens can take care of this.” His cool gaze met mine. “I didn’t lie. You are Kamila’s competition. You’re the first supe on this campus to challenge her.”

  Slowly, I shook my head. “You made it sound as if I was just someone occupying your time.” In that moment, I hated hearing the hurt in my voice. I wasn’t some weak-kneed succubus who couldn’t stand up to a mean girl.

  Milos touched my cheek. “No, you’re not weak. It’s one of the things I like about you, Lilith.”

  My heart skipped a beat. “You like me?”

  His eyes crinkled in the corners. “Why else would I risk the wrath of Miss Vamptastic?”

  Oops!

  I didn’t realize that he knew the Lilin nickname for Kamila. “So, where does that leave us?”

  “We missed Physics, and we’ll be late for third hour if we don’t leave now.” Milos rested his palm against the tree. “Or…”

  “Or what?”

  “We could stay here. Show up in time for Politics.”

  I smiled. “Whatever will we do with ourselves?”

  He leaned closer,
steadily looking at my lips. “I think we can come up with something.”

  “A lot of something,” I said as he claimed my mouth.

  §

  Spending time with Milos cleared my mind and helped me prepare for the debate. When we arrived, the class was divided between the two parties—those who considered themselves conservative and those who were more of a liberal mindset. Professor Malachi had two podiums in the front of the room. Kamila was already standing behind one of them with her campaign manager.

  Alistair rushed over to my side. Whispering, he asked, “Where have you been? I thought I’d see you in Physics.”

  Milos said, “She had an emergency.”

  I didn’t miss Kamila glaring at us.

  “Yeah, right.” Alistair grasped my wrist and tugged me toward the other podium. “Do you at least have your speech?”

  “Of course I do.” Did he really think I was that forgetful? “I’m ready, Alistair. Chill.”

  “We’re going to start today’s class with a little Q and A for our candidates,” said Professor Malachi. “First, we’ll hear from them to find out what they’re all about.” His eyes darted from me to Kamila. “We’ll hear from Miss Tesarova.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled like the dragon who just ate the unsuspecting villager. “As a student of Lorelei’s, I’m here to learn just like everyone else. I’m here to do my best job in learning how to scare. It’s our only reason for being here.”

  Heads bobbed around the room.

  “But my opponent has a different agenda. One that is fundamentally contrary to our purpose. For those of you who don’t know, Lilith Martin is a proud supporter of the initiative begun by Supes and Humans United.” Kamila paused for effect. “Haven’t heard of it? I’m not surprised. The organization exists in that idyllic town of Falls Creek, New York. The humans who work with her are the only ones aware of the existence of supernaturals.” Kamila glanced over at me. “I can’t pretend to know why she wants the Tribunal seat. I do know, however, that SHU is wrong for supernaturals. Having humans aware of us makes our jobs difficult. SHU also preaches about inclusion. Imagine vampires sitting in the same class as humans—the ones that we’re supposed to prey upon. How would that work?”

  Professor Malachi cut in. “Wrap it up, Kamila.”

  She gave him a cute, innocent smile—fangs on display. “If I’m a representative on the Tribunal, I guarantee you there will be no talk of inclusion. My post will not be about changing things. There’s enough change in the human world. We don’t need to do anything differently at Lorelei’s. We just need to uphold our values and our beliefs. Keep on being the strong, scary supernaturals we’re meant to be. Thank you.”

  Nearly every vampire in the room clapped. I noticed a few of my supporters joining with them. Not good.

  “You’re up, Miss Martin.”

  I gripped my paper tightly as I looked out over the room. Alistair wrote a convincing, safe speech, but it wasn’t what I needed. He cleared his throat, and I exhaled loudly.

  “Fellow students and Professor Malachi, I thank you for the opportunity to speak.” My eyes skimmed over Alistair’s words. I couldn’t say them. Kamila baited me, and I had to take the hook. If not, I’d appear weak. Looking up from the page, I held my shoulders back. “As a kid, my mother often told me that we should speak what we know. Apparently, my opponent did not get the same message. She knows as much about SHU as I know about compelling victims.”

  Someone giggled.

  “The truth of the matter is that Supes and Humans United is a growing organization. In every state where there’s a community of supernaturals and perceptive humans, there’s a branch of SHU. My intention, however, is not to further the agenda of the group. I’m here to promote fairness. Going before the Tribunal for an offense—real or imagined—is scary enough. Imagine doing it knowing that the odds are against you.”

  Murmured voices began.

  “Your opinion… Your side of the story doesn’t matter in that arena. The victim or the authority who caught you in the act states the case. You’re only there to receive punishment. Unfair. As my sister would say, like totally unfair.”

  “Two more minutes,” the instructor warned.

  “Contrary to my opponent’s beliefs, we are here to upset the status quo. We have to evolve in order to effectively scare. We can’t keep using the same tired approaches. Same old isn’t scary. It’s dull. We’re better than that. Show that you’re better than that. Make the right choice. Thank you.”

  As students stood to applaud, I noticed a vampire or two switching sides. Much better.

  Professor Malachi whistled and the noise ceased. “I’ll now take questions. Please stand when I recognize you.” His gaze bounced around the room, and then he said, “Elisha.”

  A vamp who resembled Milos rose from her seat. “Change for the sake of change may sound admirable, but what happens when it threatens our way of life?”

  “Can you be a little more specific?” the instructor suggested.

  Elisha folded her arms. “This question is specifically for Miss Martin. Would you uphold the law against interspecies fraternization?”

  Milos’s eyes locked with mine, but he couldn’t tell me what to say. “Upholding the rules already in place is a necessity. It’s not my objective to break them.”

  She sat down, and another member of the Vamp Squad took her place. “We’ve seen politicians in the human world break laws. Sometimes they pay for the crimes. Sometimes they don’t. What should happen if…say…um…a Tribunal member broke a law? My question is for both candidates.”

  Kamila blurted out, “Tribunal member or not, laws are meant to be followed. He or she would have to relinquish their post and pay for the crime. I would think that the punishment should be more severe since Tribunal members should know better.”

  My gut twisted. On some level, I had a feeling that those questions were directed at my actions. Naturally, I wanted to believe otherwise. No one, other than Miss Vamptastic, knew about Milos and me. Right?

  “Miss Martin?”

  “Yes. The rules of fairness, however, say that all parties—regardless of their affiliation—should have the right to speak their side of a story. If he or she is found guilty, the punishment has to fit the crime.”

  Thankfully, no other vampires had a question. The next one came from a dark-haired male mage. He rocked back on his heels and crossed his arms over his slight chest. “I admire Miss Martin’s take on inclusion. It’s a necessary evil when dealing with the human world, but it doesn’t play very well on this campus. Miss Martin, would you be willing to table any further discussion on inclusiveness for the good of the campaign?”

  “I’ll answer your question with a better one. If it was deemed that practicing magic on this campus was bad for students, would you curtail performing it for the good of everyone else?”

  Professor Malachi’s mouth dropped. Kamila stared at me as if I’d grown a second head. Milos smiled. Alistair said near my ear, “Please take that back. He is the mage on your side.”

  Too late.

  The magic practitioner’s blue eyes darkened. “I assure you, Lilith, that my magic has never been bad for anyone. Well… Unless someone is dumb enough to cross me.”

  Point taken.

  “Okay. I think we’ve had enough for one day,” Professor Malachi announced. “This has been just a snippet of what will happen in the upcoming campus-wide debate. Our candidates will have two weeks to prepare. In the meantime, get your questions submitted to my office by the end of the week. I’ll sort through them and decide which ones need to be addressed.” He clapped his hands and turned to the overhead projector. “All right. Last time we were discussing the Watergate case. Does anyone know a similar matter in the supernatural community?”

  Naturally, one of the demons in the back of the room answered. “Yeah, we called it Hellgate.”

  Professor Malachi beamed. “And the cause?”

  Another female dem
on said, “A few gremlins broke into the King of Hell’s residence?”

  “Naw. That wasn’t it,” someone else said. “It had to do with a breach on one of the levels of Hell. There was some corruption going on with bribes.”

  “Exactly. So, today we’re going to talk about what really happened in the Malebolge.”

  Frankly, I tuned out. The mage was still casting an evil eye my way. It didn’t help that Alistair also had his own pissy expression pointed at me. Milos scribbled something in his notebook and pushed it to the edge of the desk for me to see.

  That’s the mage who works in the audio video department.

  I scribbled back, Yeah. Alistair told me.

  Milos wrote a longer message. Don’t worry about him. I’ll handle it. Kamila is the real threat. But tell me this, would you be okay if everyone knew about us?

  Us?

  There wasn’t any us for people to know about. Sure we kissed. A lot. And I liked it. A lot. Other than that there was nothing to tell.

  At least that was what I hoped.

  Chapter Twelve

  For supernaturals, the road back to Hell must have been paved with wishes, intentions, and lots of gossip. By the time I made it to Lilin History, it seemed that everyone was muttering words about me—and Milos.

  I heard she kissed a vampire.

  I heard he bit her.

  They’re planning a coupe. According to Kamila…

  And there was the bottom line.

  Miss Vamptastic had been spreading rumors. Ones that could get me expelled. Milos would probably stay on as a student since he was a bloodborne, but he would be an ostracized vamp.

  London leaned over and warned, “Ignore them. You can’t do anything about rumors.”

  True, but they could get me in a world of trouble if the wrong person heard them.

  “Look. Nobody cares about gossip. Just continue your campaign the way we planned it.” Alistair opened his textbook. “Deviating from a strategy has never proven helpful in politics.”

  Point taken.

  “If you ask me…” Nico began as he sat down.

  “No one asked you, brother.”

  Ignoring his sister, he continued, “Your personal life shouldn’t be part of the discussion.”