“Watch it!” A grouchy voice fell into my ears as I bumped into someone.
My fingers brushed the man's wrist as I pushed away from him. Tingling tickled the skin of my fingertips as his magic filtered into me.
“What are you doing?” he snapped as he threw his cigarette on the ground.
The bar was right behind him, the door propped open to allow the air to move through. I considered ignoring him and diving inside without explanation, but I hadn't been brought up to be rude. My parents had always made sure I apologised, especially when I accidentally stole someone's magic. It had been extremely careless. See, that's why boys were trouble!
“I'm so sorry.” Going to take his hand in apology, I bit my lip when he stepped away. “I was in a rush.”
Nodding, he dismissed me with a shake of the head. When I went to walk into the Rose and Crown, he called me back. “Where are you going?”
“Huh?” My dumbfounded look must have made him feel sympathy for me because his expression softened.
“This is my pub. You don't look old enough to drink.”
Oh crap, I had literally just insulted the barman, I mean manager, before I had even got into the pub. The chances of him giving me a job was slim to none. Especially if he believed I looked too young, too.
“I'm eighteen. I'm actually looking for a job.”
Coughing, he shook his head as he indicated that I follow him inside. Once through the door, the atmosphere pressed down on me.
The clientele were droll, old men who nursed a beer in the middle of the afternoon. A couple of students sat in the corner, their pints and shots piled on the table. If I worked here, it might make me even more depressed than I had been in foster care.
“Come out back,” the manager said, picking up the wooden bar divider and waiting for me to go through. “I’m Frankie, by the way.”
Hesitating, I swallowed as I checked to see if anyone watched us. If he attacked me, I would at least have witnesses here, but-
“Forget the thoughts you have of all the bad things I might do to you. You’re not my type.”
Smiling to myself, I ducked through the gap and followed him through a door at the back of the bar. Music filtered into me as I emerged into another bar. Bright orange lights illuminated the chairs and tables, giving it the look of flames running down the walls.
“Wait… what’s this room for?”
As I spoke, a group of students, clutching bags with the academy crest emblazoned on it, walked in. They laughed as a holographic image of the man standing next to me appeared in front of them, doing a magic trick with balls and electric fire.
“This is where the magic happens… Literally.”
Shaking my head, I watched as the students went over to a table and ordered their drinks. The illusion of the manager waved his hands, nodding when the drinks flew down from the ceiling above.
Inclining his head when they cheered him, the illusion disappeared.
“Why did you bring me in here? You obviously don’t need me if you can duplicate yourself to serve.”
Crossing my arms over my waist, I watched the students as they laughed and joked together. They must have been in the year above me. Their demeanour was not of a new, nervous student coming to the academy for the first time.
“You’re an illusionist witch, like me.”
His simple reply made me turn to him. He watched me, his gaze studying my reaction. Ever since my father had helped me invent a way for me to use magic without stealing it, I had learnt how to hide my feelings. I knew that my face was blank, not telling him anything. There was a special skill in performing illusion magic.
“And?”
Shrugging, the man moved to the bar that lined the back wall and poured himself a juice. Offering me one, he smiled when I grudgingly accepted. What? I was thirsty, I needed to hydrate. Even if it meant staying in a place that could potentially become dangerous. It was very rare to meet another illusionist witch. Most were elemental. I had to be careful.
“I figured that this is your first day of school-”
“Uni,” I interjected, terribly offended that he thought I looked young enough to be in school.
Waving away my words, he handed me the juice and turned to face the bar again. There was a pool table in the corner with a myriad of coloured balls. I had never seen the game, but it looked like it had been modified for witches.
“If you're in here on the first day of... uni...” He winked at me, smiling when I glared intensely at him, letting him know with the daggers shooting out of my eyes that he wasn't funny. At all. “I know you need the money. So... I’m prepared to give you a trial run. It's quiet this afternoon, I'll give you a lesson in bartending.”
Looking at the students who laughed between themselves, I ignored the pang that had me wanting to join them. To act normal and pretend to be an ordinary person without the confines of my parents’ murder or my international status of infamous Illusionist Witch.
“That's great,” I answered, probably looking a little less than enthusiastic. “Where's the beer?”
Chapter Three
The scream jolted me awake. Thrusting up from my unmade bed, I switched on the bedside lamp that had appeared when I was out. My heart jumped into my chest as I took in the scene in front of me.
Helissa was pointing at the tank at the end of her bed. Someone was retreating from the room, her familiar in their hand.
“Has he just stolen your snake?” I asked, jumping out of bed.
The girl nodded, tears trembling at the corners of her eyes as she clutched her cover.
Tripping over my boots, which I'd carelessly left in the middle of the room, I rushed from the room, straight through the open door.
The hooded figure was wearing baggy blue denim jeans, his back retreating down the corridor, towards the entrance-hallway.
“Stop!” I shouted, charging after him.
I hadn't bothered to absorb any energy or electricity the night before, not believing I'd need it in the middle of the night. That was the problem with illusionist witches, we couldn't just cast a spell to help us when we needed it, we had to obtain magic first.
My bare feet slapped the wooden lino floor as I pumped my arms, trying to get some speed behind me. Air blasted in and out of my lungs. Why was I so bad at running? Or any sport for that matter?
“What's going on?” someone shouted from behind me.
Ignoring them, I thundered after the kidnapper - wait, no, they were a familiar-napper - that didn't sound quite right, but whatevs. The culprit swung around the end of the hall, heading for the stairs. I pushed all my energy into my legs, begging them to keep working as they protested.
“Alishia?” A deep voice spoke before Dracian Dread stepped out of a room, his whole form bashing straight into me.
My momentum kept me going, sending me flying to the ground, my palms grazing the floor. Footsteps faded away as the person who had taken Helissa's familiar disappeared down the stairs. I landed in a heap at the end of the corridor, just catching sight of the snake before they vanished.
“Are you okay?”
Looking up from under my hair, I scowled at Dracian.
He stood by his door, not bothering to come and see if I was hurt. Had the bastard stopped me on purpose? By the smug expression on his pretty face, I suspected that he had. His dark eyes flicked between my face and my legs. Why was he staring at-? Oh.
Giggles rent the air as several witches came out of their rooms. Men on one side, women the other. My nightdress, which was basically a T-shirt, had risen up to my boobs. It was a good job I had worn knickers to bed, otherwise they would all be getting a view that I would never live down. It was bad enough as it was.
“Alishia!” Helissa hurried down the corridor, heading straight for me. “Did you catch them?”
Grumbling as I got up from my heap, I shook my head. Did it look like I had caught them? Was the snake in my arms and the culprit dead on the floor? No? That mean
t he had gotten away. “No, I didn't, I'm sorry.”
“What happened?” one of the male witches asked as he eyed up my legs.
“None of your business,” I snapped back, pointedly staring at the bulge between his legs. Two could play that game, although when he strutted towards us, I realised my mistake. Men were a whole different breed.
Raising his eyebrows, he turned to a sobbing Helissa. “Are you okay?”
She sniffled as she shook her head, falling into his arms when he opened them. Seriously? What...? I mean... Why...? Ugh, I would never understand the weakness of women when it came to men. Or the arrogance of men when it came to women. It was a concept I had yet to fathom. Although, as the boy patted Helissa's arm, I couldn't help but admire the movement of the muscles on his back. It was a- No, just, no.
“Someone stole my familiar. They snuck in and took Toby.”
“Toby?” the boy and I said in unison, smiling at each other when our gaze met.
My gaze moved to Dracian as he pushed away from the wall he'd been leaning on. “I'll go and see if I can find them,” he offered, touching Helissa's arm as he passed, all of a sudden in a rush to be away from us.
“Thank you!” Helissa called as he went to trot down the stairs.
None of them could see him, it still being slightly dark in the corridor, but I watched as he looked over his shoulder at me. Was that a smirk on his face? Had he come out of his room on purpose? I knew that he was evil, his actions when it came to my parents’ death spoke louder than anything, but I had no proof. I had come to the Undercover Witch Academy, not only to become a kickass witch agent, but to out Dracian Dread and avenge my parents’ murder.
“Alishia?” Helissa nudged me in the arm. “Will you come with me to report this to the head professor?”
“Now?” I said, looking down at my bare legs.
Nodding, Helissa sobbed, her face crumpling in on itself like a discarded screwed up piece of paper. I had never had a familiar because, you know, I wasn't exactly a proper witch according to most other witches, so I had no idea about the pain she would be feeling. Except... my chest squeezed hard as an image of my mother's face slunk into my mind.
Shoving it away before tears could erupt, I grabbed Helissa's arm and dragged her back to our bedroom, where I quickly donned a pair of leggings. My dressing gown was next. We were going to visit the main man of the academy; I didn't want to look anything but my best... in my nightclothes.
“Oh my goddess,” Isabel cried as she came running into the room. “I've just heard what happened. Did you see who it was?”
Looking between the pair of us, she flapped, not sure who to go to.
Well, it wasn't my familiar that was stolen, so I didn't need the sympathy. Although, I had been given a fright by Helissa's screaming, so...
“We need to go to the professor,” I interrupted when it looked like Isabel was just going to stand and stare at the empty tank.
Taking Helissa's arm, Isabel managed to soothe her as we made our way out of the room.
Other witches were still hanging around, discussing what had happened. It was typical that I had been the centre of two escapades only a day into the first year. I had wanted to keep my head down, out of everyone's way, until I was ready to out Dracian Dread and get my revenge. However, my wishes had not been commanded.
My feet dragged behind the pair as they chattered together, apparently swapping stories about their familiars. It wasn't a conversation I could join with, which made me a little sad. Seeing my best friend laughing with another girl made me watch the stone tiles as we descended the steps to the main entrance hall.
Glancing up, I frowned as I caught sight of something black before it disappeared. The stairs in the right dorm wound up, leading to the dorms of the higher years. There were four floors altogether, although the top floor was reserved for VIP students.
“Alishia's illusions are amazing,” Isabel was saying. “She can create beautiful clothes with the click of her finger. Of course, when the magic wears off, the clothes disappear, but it’s fun all the same!”
Helissa looked over her shoulder at me as she attempted to tuck a piece of her wildly curly hair behind her ear. “That sounds fun.”
Her grief made her words seem insincere, but as she smiled kindly, I smiled back, pushing away the normal reactions that would usually come from my mouth.
Isabel hadn't been around me as much in the last few years. Her parents had offered to adopt me when my parents died, but the institute put a stop to it. My parents had encouraged me with my experiments, ignoring the calls to tame me from those higher up.
“When we get Toby back, we'll er... well, you know, I'll show you.”
The entrance hall was dark as we entered. The bright light from the orbs reflected down, casting coloured shadows, but the darkness was still oppressive as we crossed to the other side of the building, slipping into the corridor of the lesson wing. The teachers’ quarters were away from the classes, down a corridor immediately on our right.
The scratching of something behind us made me turn, searching the entrance hallway before I followed the others. No one was there, but the light flickered more than it had when we'd walked under it. Was there someone there? What insane person would walk around a medieval building in the middle of the night? Oh yeah... me.
“I think this is his room,” Helissa whispered.
A plaque with the professor's name was fixed to the wall beside the wooden door.
The whole hallway was made up of wooden walls and stone flooring, evidently the oldest part of the building. A tingle went up my spine as I looked at an old-fashioned painting that hung on the wall at the end of the hallway.
“Who's there?” a masculine voice shouted from inside.
We fumbled over ourselves, three witches unable to think of what to say. Before we got ourselves together, the door opened and the metal-head man from earlier grunted in our direction. His greying hair fell to his shoulders, the long strands wispy. His ACDC T-shirt was crumpled where he'd obviously been napping in it. He didn't look like the napping type, despite the aging wrinkles on his face.
“What do you want? Why are you-?”
“My familiar was just kidnapped!” Helissa blurted, her sobbing starting all over again.
And there I was, lost in the history of the place as I imagined women dressed in great big puffy dresses, wandering the halls. Maybe there was a ghost who haunted the halls at night, warning us to stay away from-
“You!” the professor barked, pointing at me. ”Why are you involved in yet another misdemeanour? It’s been barely a few hours and you’re making a name for yourself already.”
Was the professor really picking on me when a crime of the utmost disrespect had taken place? I mean, really… Yes, I might have been present at the two bizarre occurrences of the day, but still… this one had nothing to do with me.
“Alishia,” Isabel whispered, pulling me to the side as the professor took the details from Helissa. “Did you cast an illusion to wind up Helissa?”
Frowning, I glared at my friend. “How could you…? Seriously?”
Hearing the professor agree to investigate the snake-napping… yeah, it worked… I stormed away from my friend, ignoring her when she called out to me. How dare she think such a thing? Why would I want to bring pain to someone I didn’t even know? Snakes didn’t bother me, Helissa had seemed nice so far. What possible cause would I have to pretend to take the familiar?
Seething, I took calm, slow breaths, just as the therapist had taught me after my parents were killed. She had advised me to take nothing personally, and to never allow another human being to have power over my actions and reactions.
Unfortunately, right this moment, I wanted to burn down the school.
Maybe, just maybe, I would. A little fire wouldn’t harm anyone…
Chapter Four
“I’m sorry I accused you last night,” Isabel said quietly as we sat at the table. “Please,
please, please, tell me you’ve forgiven me.”
Holding out her arms, she tried to pull me into a hug.
Resisting her tugging hands, I laughed gently when she planted a kiss on my cheek, just to annoy me.
“Okay, okay.” Glancing around the room, I tried not to roll my eyes at the typical witch classroom.
The walls were still bare, the stone bricks showing the craftsmanship of hundreds of years ago. Wooden tables, laid in lines facing the blackboard at the front. Paintings of famous witches who had graduated from the Academy hung on the walls, bringing gloomy images of men and women who now served as agents in the investigative field.
“Who’s our teacher?” I asked, looking at my timetable.
Mrs Hinley. Oh, that was good. Maybe I would have an ally in the teacher, especially after what had happened yesterday.
“I know we’re not in high school,” Isabel said, nudging me in the side. “But… Dracian’s friend is right up my street.”
“Up your street? I thought I was the only one who used that antiqued saying. Shouldn’t you be describing him as hot?”
Watching as Dracian and another boy settled at a desk a few rows ahead, I tried to study the friend that had caught Isabel’s eye.
I failed… miserably. No matter how much I tried to determine how hot he was, my gaze kept slipping to the back of Dracian’s head.
A surge of heat flew through me when he glanced over and waved at Isabel. How dare he act like he hadn’t done anything?
“How’s it going, Alishia Magic Fingers?” he said loudly.
Wait… was he speaking to me? And what the hell had he just called me? If I hadn’t seen the CCTV that placed him at my home when my parents were killed, I would’ve been easily swayed by the dark brown eyes and short wavy hair. No, he was a murderer, a heartless one at that.
Isabel poked me in the ribs, stretching her eyes as if to tell me to answer.
Clearing my throat, I shrugged, ducking my gaze.
“All good?” I called to Helissa when she stumbled into class, dropping her bag on the ground.
Undercover Witch Academy Box Set Page 3
