“Alishia,” Helissa called from behind.
Reaching the Infinity letterbox, which was a traditional red box in the wall, I pushed the note through the hole before my roommate caught up to me. I had decided to reach out to the snake-killer. My nerves had been on edge ever since Toby had been found hanging from the chandelier. If the boy who had taken him could carry out his murderous threat, he would probably blow up the school. I had kindly asked him to meet me so I could tell him my secret. As if I would. Hopefully he would be stupid enough to fall for my trick.
“Why did you leave so abruptly?” Helissa joined me, her hair wild and her eyes searching for something in her bag. “I made this for you.”
Handing me what looked like a weird belt, she grinned. I tried not to frown, but the leather contraption looked a little fifty shades of grey to me. I wasn’t sure I was interested in that sort of thing. Wait, I was totally sure that I wasn’t interested.
“I’m sorry, I don’t really- er…”
Helissa’s eyes widened when she saw how uneasy I was. “Wait.” She gasped. “You don’t… Dudette, it’s a holster for your exterminator thing.”
Laughter started in the pit of my stomach and rumbled up my chest, bursting from my mouth as Helissa bit her bottom lip.
“Did you think I was some sort of pervert?”
Nodding, I clenched my stomach as I bellowed with laughter, unable to control myself.
The students in the corridor looked at me, smiles coming to their faces as they absorbed my hilarity. It was contagious, and the more they stared, the more I laughed.
Helissa was giggling now, her hand covering her mouth. Every time our gaze met, we both cracked up even more. It was nice to feel free enough to laugh.
Calling all students, the intercom blared out, jarring us out of our stupor. Please make your way to the ballroom for an emergency assembly.
Everyone started to whisper as they turned from the classrooms and headed back towards the entrance hall. I tucked the holster away, thanking Helissa.
I had shown her my magic inducer – I really had to find a better name for it – so she knew what it was I used to create my magic. After explaining that I was being spied on, she had insisted that I carry it with me at all times. The gift she had conjured was incredibly useful.
“I’m just going to go and put this on,” I said, ducking into the ladies as I waved.
Going on without me, Helissa tried to blend in with the crowd. Most of the students knew who she was, their glances covert as they admired her from afar. Her witch bloodline was one of the oldest in England.
When inside the toilet, I took off my jacket and clipped the leather holster across my maroon T-shirt. It was a tight top, so the holster sat nicely across my chest. Retrieving my magic blaster from my bag, I tucked it into the pocket that hung on the side, sitting snug against my ribs. It was comfortable and fit perfectly.
A smile came to my face as I came out of the loos and trotted to the entrance hall. Students were inside the ballroom now, their backs to me as I slipped inside. They all sat on chairs, facing the old unused altar. Professor Seaton stood in front of it, already talking loudly.
“Ah, Alishia, please come and sit up here.”
Indicating a seat a few rows from the front, he waved his hand impatiently. The whole of the school, all five years, were crammed into the hall. Why would he pick on me?
Heat rushed over my skin as all eyes watched me waltz down the aisle. Oh gosh, why had I worn my skirt stupidly short today? The rebel in me had wanted to provoke Mrs Hinley, who was constantly on our backs about it, but now, I regretted every rebellious part of myself.
Dracian caught my eye, winking when I glared. He was right, our conversation wasn’t over. I had twisted and turned in an effort to get him and his dark, dark eyes out of my mind the night before. His revelation that his father had been put into prison for helping someone else, namely my father, sat uncomfortably on my, two sizes too small, chest.
“We have some bad news,” the professor went on as I disrupted the whole row of students who had to stand to allow me to sit. “Seven of our students have lost their magic.”
An audible gasp ran around the hall, ranging from small squeaks to bellows of disbelief. Manoeuvring myself around so I faced the hall, ready to sit, I froze when several pairs of eyes narrowed on me. Wait, why were they glaring at me as if I was a stinky sock? Surely-?
“Please.” Professor Seaton waved his hands to quieten the mumbling that erupted. “Calm down. We don’t know what is causing the problem…” At this, he glanced at me, almost pointedly. “… but we have an investigation under way. If you know anything, please come forward and speak to either Mrs Hinley or myself.”
Did he seriously just stare at me as if I was the culprit? Oh great, more and more students had turned to glance at me, their noses in the air as I stared back, widening my eyes for effect.
I was a little tempted to call out the professor, who apparently had a child with Mrs Hinley, but what would I say? Yeah, well you kissed another teacher. Pffft. It was useless, they were going to blame me whatever I said.
What made me squirm the most was how the professor hadn’t said anything the night before. Not one little clue that he suspected me of stealing seven students’ magic. I mean, what did he think I was doing with that amount of magic? I could create myself a nice little Ferrari or maybe even a unicorn. Oh, now that was an idea.
“We won’t be suspending classes just yet, but if it happens again, we’ll have to stop them until our investigation is finalised.”
“Ironic, isn’t it?” one the students at the front shouted. “We’ve come to an academy to train as agents and we have our first case in these very walls!”
Rumbles of chuckling filtered through the room as the professor waved his arm. “Yes, yes, it’s all very funny. Keep your guard up, don’t talk to anyone outside the academy if you can help it and for goodness sake, wear protection.”
Our jaws dropped as Mrs Hinley, who had been standing nearby, stormed in front of the professor. “What Professor Seaton means is that you shouldn’t be doing any of that while this is going on. Who knows how this is happening!”
Students got up to leave as she dismissed us, her pretty face screwing up in disgust as she turned to the professor. They whispered between themselves, their expressions full of angst.
Ugh, if the professor hadn’t just started a witch hunt on me, I would’ve been tempted to help them, but no… I would walk out of the ballroom gracefully and-
“Professor?” Isabel called, thrusting through the leaving students. “Is the ball still going ahead tomorrow night?”
Tempted to illusion myself out of there, I looked around to find Helissa. Several students watched me as they passed, their glares burning through my leather jacket and writing Traitor on my back. Seriously?
“The ball will go ahead!” Mrs Hinley shouted at the top of her shrill voice. “Too much money has gone into the welcome ball,” she hissed at Seaton when he went to protest.
Well, as long as the ball was going ahead, all would be well in the world of witchcraft. Oh crap, my pretend joyousness was short lived. That meant Isabel would force me to go to the dance. Americans had invented the heinous evening entertainment to terrorise students, I was sure of it. Like a slow torture method used to make sure their adolescent years kept them downtrodden. I, for one, only wanted to endure the ball to see the boys in their handsome suits. There was just something very Christian Grey about a man in a suit.
“Did you hear that?” Isabel shouted in my direction. “We can still go!”
Ducking my head and pretending I didn’t know the apparently thirteen year old pubescent girl, I slunk between two other witches and headed towards the doors.
A tug on my hair caused me to turn, my head almost butting into Dracian’s chin. The shock of his annoyingly handsome face made me lose my footing. Oh no, I was going down.
As my legs gave way, I ended up kne
eling on the floor.
Dracian was still walking with the flow, his waist at my head height. Err, this was totally uncomfortable and… yep, he literally just walked into my face with his nether regions. So wrong, on so many levels.
His hand wrapped around my arm, grabbing me to my feet. I was traumatised, my eyes completely squeezed shut. I was blinded, not even sure what part of my face had touched… down there.
“I’m keen to know you more,” Dracian said, the corner of his lip sinking into his cheek. “But, that was a little forward.”
Blinking my eyes open, I allowed him to march me to the entrance hallway where the students thinned out, already going back to their classes. “I think you just blinded me with your bulge.”
His cheeks turned a dark shade of pink as Isabel and Helissa joined us. It was good to see the cool boy humbled, and embarrassed, about my misfortune. Maybe he wasn’t as cocky- nope, wrong word to use.
“Did you see the way they stared at you?” Helissa said, linking her arm through mine.
Dracian’s gaze slid down to see where our arms touched. I watched him as his eyebrows rose slightly before his expression straightened out again. He was probably shocked that someone dared to touch me.
“It’s okay,” I said, turning my back to Dracian and pulling Helissa towards the learning wing. “It’s not possible that it was me, so anyone with any sense would know that.”
“I’m not sure there’s many people with sense in this building,” Isabel said, waving goodbye to Dracian who got waylaid by James Hinley-Seaton.
Marching as a threesome, I kept my head held high as the other students stared. My confidence waned as we neared the classroom. Maybe I was the top suspect in the disappearing magic case.
“Have you heard any more from the killer?” Isabel put her phone out in front of us and snapped a selfie.
Great, she would post the picture of me with my mouth wide open and everyone would like it because she’s smiling beautifully. Bloody society. Values and morals were completely gone, especially when it came to bigging up our sisters in a positive way.
“I can’t believe you just posted that without asking us,” Helissa said, shaking her head.
We were about to enter the classroom when I pulled them back to update them. “I’ve sent the letter to the snake-killer. Hopefully, I’ll hear back before anything drastic happens. I’ve been wondering whether to tell Seaton about the threat.”
Both girls insisted that I didn’t. Apparently, I was embroiled in every problem that was currently haunting the academy. How had that happened in the matter of days?
“You’re right,” I whispered as Mrs Hinley called us into the classroom.
We rushed to our seats, our heads ducked as the students watched us, or more specially me. Oh boy, I was in academy trouble. No girl wanted all the attention for all the wrong reasons.
My heart sped up when an official looking tiny woman with dark hair and a leather jacket just like mine, walked in the room. The boys’ grumbled appreciation as Mrs Hinley asked the woman to introduce herself.
“My name is Devon Jinx. I’m an agent with the Hunted Witch Agency. I was bloody terrible at anything until I found my job, so don’t panic about today, okay?”
Mrs Hinley’s cheeks turned pink as she cleared her throat. “Devon is going to tell us a bit about being an agent before you all give us a demonstration of your abilities.”
My stomach sank down to my feet as Devon took out a silver dagger. She flicked it in the air and caught it by the handle again, making the whole class gasp. The woman was kick-ass!
“We hunt down rogue witches who are a danger to humans and the underworld.” Walking up the aisle between the tables, Devon looked at each one of us. “I’ve fought various paranormal creatures, seen dead bodies and got myself into a shit-ton of trouble.”
“Did you ever kill anyone?” Dracian asked in a deep drawl.
She turned to him, her small frame shifting to stand beside him. Nodding slowly, she glanced around, her eyes landing on me. “Yes, I’ve killed to protect myself and others. I’ve made mistakes, I’ve lost control of my magic. But, mostly, it’s been for the greater good.”
A chuckle came from Dracian as the class stayed silent, staring at the goddess in front of us. Okay, that was a little OTT but still, she was amazing, and I wanted to be like her.
“Something to add?” Devon asked Dracian.
Pushing to his feet, he towered over the small agent, his dark eyes looking down at her. “No, I just find it hard to believe that someone of your size has such a big… ego.”
Ouch, why was the witch being so spiteful?
The students in the room glanced at one another, shocked to see a darker side to Mr Dread. I wasn’t though, not when I knew what he had done to my parents.
I couldn’t see Devon’s face well, but I gasped when she thrust her arm towards Dracian’s stomach. He went to defend himself, his hands reaching for her arm. In a split second, she spun around him, jumped on his back – knocking over a chair in the meantime – and hung there with her dagger pushed against his throat.
“Challenge accepted,” she said loudly before leaning in and whispering something in his ear before shouting. “Point taken?”
A grin crossed my lips. Dracian’s eyes were wide, his chest huffing in and out. Yes, it was good to see the cool and collected student rattled. It served him right for challenging someone he didn’t know. Although, if Mrs Hinley hyperventilated for much longer, she would pass out.
“Point taken,” Dracian said as Devon dropped off his back.
“You see…” She came closer to our table, looking me in the eye. “When we feel like we’re powerless, we’ve lost. You have to grab the power from within you and force it out into the open for all to see.”
Smiling at me, she turned and went to the front of the classroom. Mrs Hinley gripped her wrist, squeezing tightly as she steadied herself. “My goodness, a real display there of what a proper agent looks like.”
“When do we learn how to do that?” Isabel called out.
Shaking her head, Mrs Hinley wiped the sweat from her brow with her perfectly manicured hand. “If you make it to Second Year, you start combat training.”
“If we make it?” I blurted.
The class turned to look at me.
Okay, so I was that student who was stupid. I obviously didn’t know how the academy worked, or hadn’t taken it in, one or the other. Typical Alishia.
Licking her lips, Mrs Hinley scowled in my direction. “As most of you know, you have to pass First Year in order to progress into Second Year and so on. You are tested throughout the year to gauge your skills. If you’re found failing, you have to leave when we tell you to.”
Ah crap, I had better come up with a backup plan if I failed to impress. I wasn’t exactly good at spells, so that meant I had to work extremely hard to prove myself.
“I’m here to help you with your first test,” Devon announced, pointing at me. “Show me what you’ve got.”
Stuttering, I looked at my friends. “I… I’m an illusionist witch, I can’t…”
“Sure you can, I’ve heard the rumours, and we all know rumours are the creation of bored and insignificant people.” She glared at Dracian for some strange reason. “Time to put those rumours to bed and show us how incredible you are.”
Getting to my feet, I slowly came around the table. When I was behind Isabel, I slipped my hand under my jacket and pressed the button on my Magic Tranquiliser, bracing myself for the electrical current that zipped into my thumb.
The shock made me jerk as I paused, the electricity filtering into my body. I wasn’t ready to let people know how I got my magic. Hopefully, they wouldn’t question it today. Not on the day where witches were being drained of their magic.
“Be quick about it,” Mrs Hinley barked, snapping her fingers.
A flash of magic sparked from her hand as my feet started to move of their own accord, almost running to the
front of the class. I stared at our teacher, my mouth dropped open at her gall. How dare she control me? I would-
“I apologise,” she said quickly, laughing awkwardly.
Devon moved in front of the teacher, her dagger still grasped in her hand. “I’m an Essex witch, which means my weapon is a birth right passed down by my family. This dagger has the spell of our family engraved on it. What’s your weapon? Other than your awesome jacket, of course.”
Someone coughed before saying under their hand, “Other people’s magic.”
Staring in the direction of the voice, I smiled sweetly. “If you’re not careful-”
“That’s enough,” Mrs Hinley interjected. “Please remember that Alishia has every right to be here.”
“It’s okay.” I told the teacher as I whispered a creation spell.
Rats suddenly appeared all over the floor, running over the students’ feet, squeaking madly. Everyone lifted their feet, one girl screaming when a rat ran up her bare leg. Oops, maybe the rats had been overkill. Although, I was enjoying it a little too much.
Blinking, I almost laughed when the rats disappeared. They were gone as quickly as they’d appeared, leaving the students still gasping in fright. The only person who hadn’t been afraid was Dracian bloody Dread.
“Nice,” Devon said, high fiving me. “Was that real or an illusion?”
Swallowing, I clasped my hands in front of me. “It was an illusion. Most witches can create physical matter, but I find that hard. However, I can form imagery well. If you girls…” I said to three giggling students as they rolled their eyes at one another. “… want to look better, just ask. I’ll give you a makeover in the click of a finger.”
Isabel’s jaw dropped at the same time as the class chuckled.
Biting my lip, I went to move away from the kickass agent, who grabbed me back. I jumped away, jerking my arm from her grip.
“Don’t worry,” she said to me quietly as Mrs Hinley called for order. “I’m not afraid of anything. Well, that’s not technically true. My partner, Mr Gerald Smelly-arse, he’s lethal. Not just in the field, but when he lets one go… well, it could literally cause an explosion if he was near an open flame.”
Undercover Witch Academy Box Set Page 11
