I hesitated, debating whether to follow Professor Seaton's request that no one touch the snake. Sod that, his owner had every right to touch him. Although, I would check with her first.
“Helissa, Seaton said that we shouldn't touch him if we want to try and get the best imprint of magic from him.”
Raising her eyebrows, she shook her head.
“No? I didn't think so, either, but you know, I had to check.”
Handing her the blanket, I backed away. It was a tiny bit odd that she was cradling a snake, but as the tears flowed, my chest squeezed tight.
Isabel took my hand. Heat exploded before I took my hand away. When I was emotional, my touch wasn't safe. It was why no one had touched me properly for years.
“Do you know anything?” Helissa said, turning to me.
They both stared at me, their big brown eyes wide. I couldn't very well not tell them, could I? I would be the shittiest friend in London if I kept it from them.
“I got this note yesterday.” Taking it out of my pocket, I handed it to Isabel.
My lip was trapped in my teeth as she read it, her eyes growing even more wider, if that was possible. Here came the explosion, the accusations, the, it’s all your fault...
Instead, she handed the note to Helissa. Her gaze traced it, her jaw tightening. “Why didn't you tell us about this?”
“I... don't... I can't...”
“She can't trust anyone.” Isabel sat on my bed, frowning when she stared at the plain cover. Dismissing it with a wave, she went on. “Ever since her parents died, she's harboured secrets that people would kill her for. She doesn't know how to open up anymore.”
My friend was talking like I wasn't in the room, but her words caused a lump to form in my throat. She was right, every last word was annoyingly right. I had become a hard bitch since that night.
“What happened to your parents, Alish?” Isabel tugged me onto my bed, forcing me to sit next to her.
Helissa came over, Toby still in her arms. Seeing the way she grieved her familiar cracked my heart open. I understood so very well what it felt like to cradle something dear to you once they'd gone.
“We had been out for the day to visit my grandma. She was ailing, her health deteriorating, so they dragged me to see her. Of course, being thirteen, I rebelled, plugging music into my ears and ignoring them the whole time.” Laughing when they smiled, I sobered quickly as the day played in my mind, like it always had, over and over. “When we got home, we had pizza, but I took mine to my room. My parents had been helping me practice my channelling, my magic was getting stronger.”
Swallowing, I sucked in a breath as the memories unfolded. The others watched me speak, their gazes glued to my mouth. “I fell asleep without saying goodnight to them. When I went down in the morning, I… they... ugh, there was blood everywhere in the living room. I followed the trail that had started in the kitchen.” Gulping in air, I tried to breathe as my hands started to shake.
Isabel put her hands on my arm, ignoring me when I raised my eyebrows. She wouldn't pull away, it wasn't her style. That was why she had allowed me to borrow her magic when we were children. She was a giving, loving soul, even if she did have a social media addiction.
“My mother was sprawled on the sofa, her eyes... no, I can't.”
“We don't need all the details,” Helissa said, sitting next to me.
Nodding, I sucked back a sob as tears came to my eyes. “My father was dead nearby, obviously attempting to reach her. His arm stretched out towards the sofa from where he laid on the floor.”
The tears dribbled from my eyes and over my cheeks. “Dad had been concerned that we were being watched. He thought it might have been the institute.”
“Were there any clues? What did you do?” Helissa sat against the wall, rubbing my back before lifting her hand away.
It was strange having the comfort of people who weren't afraid of me.
For the first time since my parents had died, I allowed myself to cry in front of others. The tears flowed as I forced out the words. “I rang the police. I could see… the blood, it was…” Shaking my head, I tried to clear the image. “… They had been there for several hours, probably dying the night before.”
Isabel gasped, her hand coming to her mouth. “Oh, Alishia, I wish you’d told me.”
I had kept my distance from my old friend, especially when her parents had been refused permission to adopt me. It had broken my heart to know that the system wasn’t going to allow me to be with my second family.
“Before they arrived, I went to my dad’s office and checked the CCTV. It was impulsive, but he had always warned me not to completely trust Paranormal MI5. They always work to cover up anything not in alignment with their cause.”
“Did you see anything?” Helissa was gripped, leaning forward on the bed as she wiped her eyes.
Scrubbing my face with my hands, I allowed myself to calm. The image of Dracian walking in front of our house at midnight, a rucksack thrown over his shoulder, came into my mind. I wasn’t going to divulge that information to the girls, they wouldn’t understand why I had waited so long to call him out.
“There was a man. He walked past with a backpack before turning around and coming back ten minutes later. I’m convinced he’s the one who came onto our property and killed my parents.”
My fingers had curled into fists as I sniffled. I was eighteen years old now, but the fury that laced my veins had lived with me since I had watched that video.
Shuffling forward, Helissa held the blanket tightly against her. “Did they find the man in the video?”
I had already told them too much. Paranormal MI5 had turned up, actually being helpful for a change, and did their thing. They had several clues, but it took them a long while to tell me that they had no idea who the killer was. According to them, whoever killed my parents had been able to cover their tracks.
“No, I did some research myself. I’m still working on it.”
Dracian Dread would not be introduced to the conversation. My own search had been arduous. I had managed to copy the CCTV image before MI5 took it. I had found Dracian by pure luck. On a dating app.
Using a fake profile, I had searched the internet for a picture of a dark haired boy with three piercings in his ear. That had been the only clue that had led me to him. Once we had matched, I had managed to find out that he was going to the academy. It had taken me almost five years to find him.
“You’re telling me that the officials haven’t found your parents’ killer?” Helissa snapped.
Moistening my lips, I pushed myself off the bed. “No, they haven’t.”
Isabel wiped her eyes of the tears that sat in them. Grabbing my hands and forcing me to hold hers, she looked up at me. “You have enemies, but we’re your friends. You can trust us.”
Blinking back the tears that threatened again, I swallowed as I looked at Helissa. “I’m so sorry your familiar was killed because of me.”
Getting up, Helissa put a hand around my waist. “We’ll find the bastards who killed Toby. We’ll get the wankers who did such gruesome things to your parents. And, we’ll catch the arsehole who dared threaten to blow up the academy.”
Chapter Eight
“How are your classes going?” Frankie asked as I poured my last pint of the evening.
It was fairly quiet in the bar, the students all tired from the first week of learning.
Yawning, I shook my head as I handed the beer to a girl who smiled as she handed me her coins.
My boss sat on the other side of the bar, insisting that he had to rest to make sure I was doing a good job. I had learnt a lot tonight. The first and most poignant lesson: Frankie was a lazy bartender, preferring to let me do all the work.
“Today, we practiced a telekinesis and levitation spell.” Throwing the rancid smelling cloth in the air, I attempted to spell it to float.
It fell flat to the ground. It was safe to say, my magic skills were still poor. A
lthough, I had managed to keep a pen floating an inch from the desk for three point five minutes in class. Considering I didn't have much magic left, I had been suitably proud of myself. Not that a levitating pen would be of any help in the predicament I found myself in.
“How do you work at the academy? Surely, you can't do spells unless they allow you to steal magic from someone?”
Oh, yeah, it was probably best I kept my guard up around Frankie. I might be able to fool the students, although, they kinda knew who I was, so it wasn't exactly hard to figure out that I was that illusionist witch, but it probably wouldn’t stretch to another seasoned illusionist witch.
The students didn't know what I was capable of, but my infamous name had crossed their lips a time or three.
“That's classified,” I said, taking a sip from the gin and tonic I had just poured.
Narrowing his gaze on me, Frankie opened his mouth to speak. Before he could, I pointed at the clock and smiled. It was the end of my shift, which meant I could have a gin or ten. Perks of working in a bar? Booze. All. The. Time.
“You're not about to drink my bar into the red.”
“You're no fun. Where's your sense of adventure?” Downing the drink, I poured us both another.
Checking the bar, Frankie waved his hand, indicating that I should pass him the drink. His magical doppelganger wasn't in tonight. He was saving his magic for a busier day. Apparently, he had a friend who gave him one hit of magic a week. It sounded a bit like a dodgy drugs deal to me. Surely, witches didn't live that way?
“Frankie?” I started tentatively. “Do you have to pay your friend for... you know?”
As his cheeks burned pink, he looked down at the bar. Nodding without replying, he swallowed hard as sweat lined his forehead. “In this world, we sometimes have to do things that we don't want to do. Trust me, don't do what I do, just accept that you'll never be a happy witch.”
Sucking my lip into my mouth, I kept my secret close to my heart. Was it cruel that I wasn't instantly telling him that I had a way for us to live differently? For us to be able to produce magic without taking it from others?
When he dipped his head and stared at the bar, my stomach dropped to my patent leather boots. I didn't know the man well, but I knew exactly what he felt as he leant on the bar, his gaze distant. One day. I had to give my gift to others when I could, but not before I had worked out my own life.
“Life sucks,” I said, pouring another drink. “Let's drink.”
Shaking his head, Frankie pushed the drink away. “No, alcohol solves nothing. In fact, it's a depressant.”
Sucking the drink down, I shrugged. “It might well be, but it does make me feel good for a moment. It's good to let go occasionally.”
I didn't need a lecture on drinking, but I understood what Frankie meant. When I was fifteen, I had snuck out of my foster home and drank with teens from my school. We had to answer for plenty of wrongdoings, and I had to keep my head about me when I drank, so maybe Frankie was right.
“I’d better get going,” I said, grabbing up my bag. “Thanks for the drink.”
Saluting me, he nursed his glass as I left without looking back. The witch was lost in his thoughts as he sipped the gin. He was a man who owned a bar and wasn’t an alcoholic. It was pretty unheard of.
Dancing past the last few stragglers, I laughed when they shouted goodbye to me. Yeah, they didn’t know me, but it was nice to hear a friendly goodbye. Especially as my boss was having a moment.
Pushing my way out into the open air, I breathed in deep. My first pay packet would arrive in just two days, which meant I could invest in a new bag. The one currently sitting on my shoulder was barely hanging on to its strap.
Not only that, I could get myself a spell book. For the first time in my life, I would actually find a way to learn magic properly. I’d had enough of the students frowning at me, and it had only been three days since I’d started the academy.
The cool breeze brushed my skin as I put on my jacket, ready to return to the dorm and sleep. The day had been filled with classes, so we’d all been too busy to discuss our private investigation of the snake-killer. Yeah, the bastard had a new name.
My phone had multiple texts from them, urging me to meet them for breakfast first thing in the morning.
“Those girls can't live without me,” I muttered, smiling to myself briefly.
Helissa had given Toby to Seaton, making him swear that he told her everything. Of course, the head of the school agreed, but my suspicions were raised. Rumours had started to circulate about the two students who had lost their magic. Eyes had turned to me occasionally throughout the day. Surely, the students didn't suspect me too?
My phone suddenly burst into noise, making me jump as I neared the academy gates. Answering it, I sang a greeting.
A footstep made me turn, my heart suddenly flipping in my chest when a young couple walked past, hand in hand, giggling to themselves. Oh crap, I had just made a total idiot of myself. Well done, Alishia. My reputation was going to be crushed now they'd heard me sing... terribly, I might add.
“Alishia?” Isabel called down the phone. “Are you back yet?”
“Nope,” I replied, smiling awkwardly when the couple glanced over their shoulders.
They headed towards the side entrance to the dorm wing, their laughter filtering back to slide in my ear and make me want to crawl underground. Instead, I followed at a very slow pace, not wishing to disturb their piss-taking... of me.
“I just embarrassed myself by apparently auditioning for the X Factor, true Alishia style.”
“I thought you sounded quite good,” Isabel replied. “You'll be knocked out in the first round, but it's all about the taking part.”
Chuckling, I glanced up at the building. The dark shadows of the walkway were lit by solar lights in the ground, but it was eerily quiet as the couple disappeared from sight.
“Well, I'll have you know, I'm-” My sentence stopped as I searched for my dorm room window.
It was only two flights up, but underneath, on the ground below, stood a silhouetted figure, a hood over his head as it tilted back to look up. Was he looking at my window? The light was on inside, Helissa obviously not in bed yet.
“Are you okay? You've gone all quiet on me.” Isabel's tone changed, growing concerned.
It had been such a strange start to the year, everyone was on edge. My whole body tingled from adrenaline as I sucked the electric from my phone, forcing the battery to die. Tucking the phone away, I swallowed hard.
The boy, I was assuming it was a boy because he was fairly tall, shuffled his feet. When he glanced over his shoulder, I ducked behind a small bush. I hadn't had time to see his face, so I didn’t know who it was. Chancing it, I snuck a glance around the foliage. He had gone back to looking up at the dorm window.
What made him think that he had the right to stalk us? I could see him clearly as he bent down and took something out of what looked like a backpack.
No, I wouldn't allow him to hurt us. Helissa was already suffering from the loss of Toby. Her parents hadn't even bothered to come and see her, preferring to snub their daughter. Apparently, she wasn't living up to the Wayward name.
Stepping out from my hiding place, I made a run for the boy as he lifted something that was pointy towards the window. I didn't have much magic, but I wouldn't waste it.
My footsteps sounded on the earth, alerting him to my presence.
Spinning, he aimed the pointy thing at me.
Ignoring the thud of my petrified heart, I kept going. My hand shot out as I whispered the telekinesis spell I’d learnt earlier in the day. A bright spark started to form at the end of his stick. Ah, the boy had a wand. Well, not for long. The wand clattered to the floor as my spell took all of my magic, forcing it from his hand.
“What-?” His sentence was cut off as I tackled him to the ground, my arms wrapping around his legs.
He grunted as we crashed on the grass, his back smas
hing onto the earth and breaking our fall. I tried gripping his wrists, but my fingertips heated as his magic slunk into me. Shit, if I pinned him down, I would ultimately take his magic at the same time. Did he deserve my worry in this matter? Would an agent ask nicely? No! He had been about to cast a spell on our dorm, he must have been the culprit who took Toby.
“If you don’t tell me who you are, I’m going to take your magic,” I said, pressing my fingers into his wrists. “All of it!”
He instantly stopped bucking to get me off. It would’ve only taken a moment to dislodge me, being that I was puny compared to him, but the heat of my hands forced him to stop. I would use his magic against him if he didn’t answer my questions.
“Okay, stop!” Going still, he opened his hands in a show of submission.
Releasing one of his wrists, I stayed sitting on his chest. It wasn’t the most ladylike of positions, but if I wanted to be a good agent, I had to learn how to interrogate bad people on the job.
“Who are you?” I spat, leaning closer.
He tried to wrench his wrist out of my hand, but I held tight. I softened my energy, trying not to take too much of his magic. The rumours about me stealing would circulate even more if the rat squealed. However, he was the one who needed to give me answers, I was just using my skills in the fight for freedom or whatever.
“My name’s James. James Hinley-Seaton.”
Ugh, the professor’s son? Wait, he had both surnames. Was he the spawn of both our teachers? That made things a little more complicated considering I was sitting on him and stealing his magic. Poo.
Although, wait. Looking closer, I frowned. He was the same James who had comforted Helissa when Toby had been taken. What was he doing outside our dorm?
“Are you the snake-napper? Tell me the truth!”
Shaking his head, he frowned at me. “No, you’ve met me before, I’m a friend of Dracian’s. He paid me to spy on you.”
“He did?”
Wincing, he looked at where I clenched his wrist in my hand.
Undercover Witch Academy Box Set Page 9
