“We're doing an assignment,” I told my new boss as he handed me a small pile of paperwork. Skimming the words, I put the application form into my bag as I continued. “We have to investigate the disappearance of a snake, stolen from one of the dorms.”
“Make sure you fill that out before your first shift. Just because I'm a witch, doesn't mean I don't have to please the human government with official employment records.” Frankie checked around the bar, his gaze lingering on the student who pretended to read something on his phone.
My voice was low, hopefully too low for the student to hear. Although, I could see his ears pricking, trying to listen. He would know what was happening at the academy. There had already been a post on Facebook from one of the popular girls asking students to keep an eye out for Helissa's familiar.
“I promise. So, can you tell me more about the man who... you know...?” Widening my eyes, I nodded my head sideways at the intruder.
Frankie understood, a slight nod telling me that he would keep his voice to a minimum. “The snake-”
Reaching over as his voice carried much louder than I expected, I grabbed hold of the second till that was to my left. Pulling on the electrical current, I threw up a muffling illusion spell. The student nearby glanced at me before looking back at his phone. He wouldn't be able to hear our exact words, instead a banal conversation would put him off track. I had made sure to add a sprinkle of tinnitus to the illusion, which was obviously working because he started to shake his head.
“Right, he can't hear us now. You don't do subtle well, considering you run an illegal bar for supernaturals, do you?”
Narrowing his gaze on the till before looking at the boy, Frankie opened and closed his mouth. “How did you just do that? You didn't... I mean, did you...?”
“My friend held my hand a moment ago, giving me a bit of her magic. We're training to be undercover agents, we need to act as if we already are.”
Shrugging, I took out a notebook from my bag and clicked on my pen. Hopefully, I embodied an efficient agent. Although, it was highly unlikely with the leather jacket and printed school skirt. It was beyond heinous that the academy made us wear a uniform. How were we supposed to look official?
Shaking my head out of my own incredibly silly thoughts, I cleared my throat. “Please, can you tell me what the man said? Did you see the snake?”
Leaning his hand on the bar, he looked up as he thought. “No, I didn’t see the snake. He showed me a bag, said it would help me with my magic. Come to think of it, it didn’t click before. He said that he knew how much I liked casting illusions. Which means he must know me.”
Doodling a bum, I smiled to myself as I added a dimple, completely unaware that Frankie watched me until he cleared his throat.
“Very professional.”
Mumbling an incoherent reply, I quickly scribbled what he’d said. So, the person had been in the bar before, a regular perhaps?
“Did you know the man? Has he been in before?”
Glancing over at the girls, I checked that they were on task. They were. Good, we would solve the case in no time. I didn’t know who I thought I was… Velma from Scooby Doo or something. Glasses would probably suit me-
“I’ve seen his face a few times, yes. I don’t know him, though. Blonde hair, similar colour to yours. I’m sure he’s a student at the academy.” Clicking his fingers, Frankie turned and flipped over a board that had, just moments before, looked like a mirror at the back of the bar. Behind it, CCTV cameras played scenes from both the human bar and the paranormal.
“Huh,” I said, leaning my head to the side. “That’s what you call an illusionist jackpot!”
How had I not been able to notice his illusion? And how was he keeping the illusion up? Usually, most illusionist witches quickly ran out of the magic they had stolen. If I didn’t top up with electric, I even ran out.
“Let me rewind quickly, just keep your enquiring friend busy.” Nodding at the boy who kept glancing at me, he pressed a few buttons and got to work.
Our gaze met, the young boy raising his eyebrows in greeting. He would be hearing a completely different conversation while the illusion put Frankie still standing right in front of me. All I had to do was imagine it and it was so. A few of my witch friends in junior school had wished that they were able to cast the same magic, but they’d quickly changed their mind when I was chucked out of the coven. Bastards.
“Did you say you were looking for a snake a moment ago?” The boy stared at me, his face watching my every move.
“I did.”
He must have heard my mention of the snake before I’d cast the illusion. Nil Points to Alishia for not doing the spell in time.
Inclining his head towards the door, the boy blinked slowly. “Some dude just asked me to buy a snake off him. He’s right outside.”
Crapping hell. My heart jumped into my throat as Frankie turned at the boy’s words. If the person who had been in the bar two hours ago was still here, was he waiting for someone? Surely, if he just wanted to sell the snake to get it out of the way, he would’ve taken it to a pet shop.
“You better get out there,” Frankie said. “You could fail your assignment if you don’t catch him.”
Alarm bells rung in my mind. Were they tricking me? How did I know that the pair of them weren’t setting me up? I didn’t know either of them, and even though Frankie was an illusionist witch, his power now scared me. I had never met another illusionist witch who had managed to fool me.
“Thanks,” I said to them as I got up from my seat.
The girls came over, grabbing my arm and propelling me away. I glanced at Frankie, who mouthed a Good Luck, before hiding his CCTV cameras.
“The location spell showed that he was here still,” Isabel said.
“So, I listened in to your conversation,” Helissa whispered, dragging me across the floor, past the pool table, and to the door. “Let’s get the bastard who stole my Toby.”
“Wait!”
My protest was ignored as the others shoved me outside. The bright light of the sun glared straight in my face, blinding me. When I looked away, I spotted a boy sitting on a bench. He had surged to his feet when we had appeared, his expression hopeful.
When he saw that it was us, he swallowed hard, grabbed the bag next to him and made a run for it. The walkway was cobblestoned, with a metal fence encasing the grounds of the academy behind it. Benches lined the pretty pathway, one end leading to the main entrance of my new school, the other led into the parkland that surrounded the back of it.
The boy ran towards the parkland, his feet super quick. He must have known who we were, which made him the prime suspect. Oh, I liked playing detective.
“That’s him!” Helissa shouted.
She was the one who had caught him kidnapping, no wait, snake-napping Toby, she could probably recognise his magic.
Thrusting into action, we set off after him. Two lots of running in one day, I would be able to do a marathon in no time, except, I was still tired from our earlier escape. My legs ran as fast as they could, but we were no match for the boy. His sprint took him out of the walkway and into the woods beyond.
“Cast a spell!” I panted, only just keeping an eye on his jacket as it flapped out behind him.
Helissa huffed a freezing spell, throwing her hand out. The boy tripped, his body skidding to the green grass.
We were almost on him when he turned, glaring at us. “He made me do it!”
Before we could reach him, he puffed into thin air. Transportation spells were only used by advanced witches and were only taught at academies by ley line witches. How had the boy been able to whisk himself and Toby away?
“Shit!” I barked, apologising to an elderly lady as she meandered out from behind a tree.
We stayed quiet, catching our breath as she moved past, glaring at us with one of those annoying stares that only old ladies could give. It instantly made me feel guilty of a crime I didn’t commit.
“I can’t believe he got away,” I spat, taking my phone out when it burst into noise.
Wait, what the hell was my foster mother doing calling me? Surely, she had realised that I wanted nothing to do with her. Letting it ring off, I faced the others.
“How did that happen? Why didn’t one of you cast a spell earlier? You could’ve tripped him or at least managed to get his bag off him. If Toby-”
“Calm down,” Isabel said, frowning at me. “We saw his face, which means it will be a lot easier to find him now.”
“Aghh!” Clenching my hands into fists, I spun as I growled, tempted to punch the tree trunk near me.
The others stared at me, I could feel their gazes burning into my back. I ignored them, sucking in a breath, slow and calm, just like the therapist had taught me after I had lost my parents.
Not only had we lost the person responsible for snake-napping Toby, my foster mother had chosen that moment to remind me of what I had run from only the day before. My life sucked balls.
“It’s fine.” Helissa came and stood right in front of me. “We will catch him, I’m sure of it. He definitely had Toby, I could feel him.”
Sucking my bottom lip into my mouth, I nodded, unable to speak as tears came to my eyes. What was wrong with me? Why was I so upset about a snake? Although, he wasn’t just a snake, he was someone’s familiar.
The fact that she could feel him showed me how close they were. I hadn’t been that close to anyone or anything for… well, for five years. If I dared to allow myself to care for anyone, they could be ripped away from me at any time.
“Let’s get back to the academy. Professor Seaton might not help us now that we’ve skipped class.” Nudging me, Helissa smiled sadly, indicating that we head back down the pathway. I followed, silent as Isabel chatted away to me, trying to get me to talk. She spoke of the past, reminding me of the things we got up to. I could tell that she thought recalling the memories would cheer me up, but it just reminded me of what I had lost even more.
My mother had always told me that every phase in life had a lesson to show me. I hadn’t reacted so strongly to anything for a long while, able to control my temper. What had triggered me so violently?
“Do you remember Misty?” Isabel whispered, her eyes welling up as we approached the school gates.
Swallowing ten thousand times, I cursed my friend in my head. Maybe it had been better not being around her all this time. Even her gorgeous face reminded me of a time that I’d buried, a time when I had allowed myself to be open.
Not anymore. I had vowed to destroy the person who had destroyed me, and I would never allow myself to soften, ever again.
Chapter Six
“I’ll meet you there,” I told Helissa as I left the bedroom.
My new roommate hadn’t rested well, her fitful sleep keeping me awake most of the night too. Professor Seaton had been as useless as a chocolate teabag… or teacup… I could never remember the saying my mother had often used, but I liked to try, just to keep a part of her close to me.
The door closed quietly behind me, the click shutting out my new friend’s anxious face. A flutter of white caught my eye, making me frown. A piece of paper had been stuck to the door. Ripping it off, I dropped it as the magic that had laced the hands of whoever had posted it sank into me.
“Eww…”
Bending in the empty hallway, I pulled my sleeve over my hand and picked the note up again. My gaze traced the writing, my eyes stretching wide when the words sunk in.
If you want the snake returned, Alishia Jones must give up her secret to her illusion magic. If not, the snake will be killed and the academy blown up. You have three days to write it down and send it to Snake through Infinity.
Infinity? The students had mentioned something about Infinity. Apparently, it was the academy’s secret postal service. Students could send private letters or assignments without anyone being able to read them. It helped with the risk of copying work, especially when it was sensitive information regarding criminal case studies.
“Miss Alishia Jones.” Dracian’s deep voice travelled down my spine and back up, the dulcet tones making me shiver.
He was coming out of his room on the opposite side of the hall.
Tucking the note in my pocket, I cleared my throat and turned to greet him. I couldn’t exactly pretend I hadn’t heard him. Playing deaf wasn’t right, especially when he had probably seen me stiffen. He must have been able to tell how his voice made me melt… wait, no, not melt, he was…
“Did Professor Seaton help your friend?”
… annoyingly hot and apparently caring. Ugh!
“Not really,” I replied, telling myself that the reason my heart was beating like a bloody drum was because of the note, not because of Dracian Dread, the one boy I hated more than anyone. “He had someone come into the room to cast an energy spell. They reckon the snake-napper-”
“Snake-napper? That's what they're calling him, is it?” The twitch of his lip made my eyes narrow on him as he stepped closer.
“Well,” I muttered, dropping my gaze. “That's what I'm calling him.”
My eyes rose as his leather boots, which were tucked under blue jeans, came into view. His black T-shirt was pulled tight over muscles that shouldn't have belonged to an eighteen year old, especially not one who had used them to kill my parents. The blood that had lined my kitchen floor had been bright red. The same colour was splashed across Dracian's T-shirt, hidden under his blazer, used to create an image of - was that a picture of a werewolf? I mean, really?
“What did they find?”
Lifting my face, I looked into his eyes, trying my hardest not to lunge at him. No, not to kiss him, but to kill him.
I had found them, my parents, sprawled, face down, in their own blood. Someone had conjured a spell to kill them, squeezing the blood vessels in their brains so hard, they... they...
“Are you okay? You look a bit pale.” Reaching for me, he paused when I jumped back, scowling at him.
Not bothering to reply, I spun around him, storming down the hall to the stairs. Before I turned out of the hallway, I glanced over my shoulder. He watched me, his dark eyes brooding under a frown. Yes, Mr Dread, you keep looking puzzled. The longer you're unaware of what I know, the easier it will be for me to take you down.
My footsteps were silent on the stone steps as I took them two at a time. Tears blurred my vision as I shoved the image of my parents from my head. Five years ago, I had come downstairs from an incredible nights sleep to the worst nightmare any thirteen year old girl had to endure. Well, any person, regardless of age. It had broken me, and I had barely pieced myself back together.
“Just be careful,” I heard a female whisper as the clatter of high heels sounded below.
Looking over the balcony, I spotted Mrs Hinley and Professor Seaton going into the entrance hall.
Skipping faster, I came to the bottom of the stairs, just as their voices disappeared through the doorway and into the ballroom.
When the Professor had come to our room last night, he hadn't said a word about our absence from afternoon sessions. Either, he didn't know, or he chose to ignore it, considering that it probably wouldn't look great on the academy that a crime had been committed as soon as the school term had begun.
Who would've thought? An academy that taught witches how to be undercover agents not able to solve a crime within its very own walls. What would the world say?
“Don't overthink it, Janine,” the professor said. “We'll find the person who took Toby. I'm sure it was just... I dunno, a misunderstanding.”
Seriously?
“Seriously?” Mrs Hinley laughed, the sound echoing in the huge room as I tiptoed closer to the entrance and hid in the shadows beside the door.
It was dawn. First class wasn't for another hour, but I had wanted to get a head start on the day. I had told Helissa that I wanted to shower, but I had done that the night before, just so I was ready for the morning. My
mother had always taught me to be prepared, so I was going to the library to read over the lesson we had missed on potions. Not that reading the words would do any good, I couldn't make potions, even if I wanted to. It was forbidden for illusionist witches to practice herbology and anything that used physical matter to create spells.
“We don't have time for this. The school year has just begun and already we've had three major issues.” Professor Seaton's voice was hushed, his tone tense.
Three issues? Something else must have happened already. Although, the incident on the balcony hadn't been mentioned on the first day, not in class anyway.
Without thinking, I reached into my pocket and took the note out again. Light shone down from the orbs, the colour red nearest to me, casting a ray over the words scribbled on the page. I hadn't even had time to take a dump, let alone process everything that had happened in the last two days. What would I do with the note?
“I'm sure they're not connected.” Mrs Hinley's heels clicked a couple of times before it went quiet. “Just be patient and allow the students to settle. We do need to investigate the case of the snake, but a second girl almost losing all her magic in the first day of class cannot get out.”
Losing her magic? What? How was that even possible? I had wondered if the girl who’d had a seizure on the first day had been electrocuted through me. I had even asked Mrs Hinley how she was doing. She had assured me that she was well again. How could a second student be almost drained?
Now, my mind rattled with thoughts as the sound of lips smacking in the room made me frown. Leaning forward, I held my hair back as I peeked around the edge of the door. Ermmm... I wasn't sure if my eyes were deceiving me, considering, you know, Mrs Hinley's name started with a Mrs, but I was pretty sure Professor Seaton wasn't Mr Hinley. And, I was even surer that the sound of smacking lips wasn't the pair enjoying tea and cake together... no, they were in a clandestine embrace, their lips locked tight.
Pulling away from the professor, Mrs Hinley let go of him, her head whipping around to check the entrance to the ballroom. Darting back just before her gaze landed on me, I swallowed hard. Had she seen me watching them like a pervert?
Undercover Witch Academy Box Set Page 6
