Chapter Four
“Who said you could be out of class?” a teacher called down the corridor.
Dracian skidded to a halt. I wasn’t quite as quick, slamming straight into his hard chest. My arms went around him to steady myself, my face planting into his nipple area.
“Professor Seaton did. We’re on our way to the lab to meet Mrs Hinley now.” Dracian was cool and collected as I pushed away from my weird leaning position and tried to stand straight.
My cheeks were aflame, the embarrassment eating me even more when I noticed a couple of students standing behind the teacher, staring rather judgementally.
“Have you got a note?”
“Are we in high school?” As the retort flew from my mouth, I wished there was a spell to grab it back. “I mean, no, miss.”
Ugh, what had got into me? Had the bomb knocked the grown up cells out of my brain?
“Come here.” The teacher’s order made us both flinch.
Unable to ignore her wish, we drew closer. Her gaze traced our clothes, noting the dust that caked us. The professor had asked that we keep our escapade a secret, and yet, we had waltzed into the academy as if we’d been hit by a bomb. Clever.
“Miss,” Dracian started. “Please believe me when I say-”
Holding up a hand, the teacher, who was about twenty years older than us with a stern expression and little glasses, tutted loudly. “What have you been up to? The truth, please.”
As she spoke, she clicked her thumb against her finger before pointing it at Dracian. Ah, crap, she had just cast a truth spell. Surely, that was against academy policy?
“We’ve just come from the hospital. Professor Seaton asked us to meet Mrs Hinley in the lab to get the-”
“Enough!” Mrs Hinley’s voice echoed down the corridor, breaking the truth spell placed on Dracian.
Wait, how had she managed to get close to us without the sound of clip clopping from her shoes? My gaze dropped to her feet, a smirk coming to my lips when I spotted the trainers. Apparently, the teacher had adopted a more casual approach recently.
The teacher in front of us moved to speak to her superior. Whispers were exchanged before Mrs Hinley dismissed her and gestured for us to follow.
“Can you at least go and change your clothes?” she muttered. “And then join me in here.”
Pushing into the lab, she said no more as the door shut tight behind her. Both Dracian and I glanced down at our outfits. It would’ve been quicker to spell them clean, but it would also give us a moment of privacy to actually change.
Taking my hand, Dracian pulled me into a run. I went with him, the frustration and fear of the last few hours melting as we raced up the stairs of the dorm wing. I shoved him aside as we reached the top, proclaiming victory.
“I win!” I threw my hands in the air, dancing around just to wind him up.
Shaking his head, he put his hands on his hips. Both of us breathed heavy, the exertion up the steps too much for our unfit bodies.
“It’s not over yet. My room is the finish line.”
Bursting forward, Dracian grabbed me back, hauling me behind him as he spurted forward with a sudden blast of energy. A cry escaped me as I tried to get hold of his jacket, but he managed to dodge out of the way.
“Unfair!” I shouted, trying to catch up to him as he sprinted down the hallway.
Opening his door with an unlocking spell, Dracian pushed his way inside, whooping loudly. I was literally on the back of his heels, thrusting through the closing door before he could shut me out. I had technically won. Well, getting to the top of the stairs had been my finish line, so I called dibs on the win.
As I turned to exclaim my decision, Dracian tackled me. His arms wrapped around my waist, pushing me onto the bed. The air released from my lungs as we landed in a heap, both laughing.
“What are you doing?” I huffed, trying to shunt him off me.
“I win, admit it!”
Gripping my arms, he pinned me to the bed, wrestling me into submission. Almost. I relaxed a little, lulling him into a false sense of security.
“Okay, you win,” I said.
He settled on top of me, his legs astride my waist. As his hold loosened, I wrenched my hands free and pushed him hard. He fell backwards as I scrambled up and manoeuvred myself on top of him. My hands were on his shoulders, pressing as hard as I could to trap him underneath me.
“Not,” I whispered, leaning closer.
Sucking his bottom lip into his mouth, he bit it gently. “Fair enough, you win.”
Ha! I was the victor!
His legs came up under me, flipping me off his lap. I somehow ended up sitting at the head of the bed, my back against the cold wall and my legs stretched out in front of me. Dracian was on his knees at the end of the bed, watching me closely.
I was about to bring my legs up when he whispered a freezing spell. My whole body went still, my muscles locked tight. Ah, not fair. I didn’t have any magic left, so I couldn’t counteract his spell.
As our gaze met, the urge to fight melted. He watched me closely, the hoods of his eyes lowering as he slowly came forward, crawling up the bed towards me. The blood rushed loudly in my ears, heat surging over my skin.
“Alishia Jones.” My name sounded so sweet on his tongue, melting me even more.
Hovering over my legs, he raised his eyebrows, asking an important question. I tried to reply, but my mouth was still sealed shut.
“Shit,” he said, quickly releasing the spell. “That could’ve been a little awkward.”
“Talk about not giving a girl a choice,” I muttered, reaching forward before he could escape. “It’s fine!”
He had gone to backtrack, a look of horror crossing his face. I managed to grab his shoulders, pulling him to me.
“Wait,” he breathed, stopping me with a hand on my arm. “This has to be right.”
Releasing him, I sat back and did as I was told. Waited. Impatiently.
He ran a hand over his hair before coming forward again. Adrenaline pumped through us both, tinging the air. We had escaped a life or death situation and it was playing havoc with our senses.
He came closer, shuffling to hover over me. His tongue flicked out to lick his lips as his face stilled before mine, the intensity of his gaze burning my eyes.
His hand came up to stroke down my cheek, the touch sending tingles to every part of my body.
Only a short time ago, he had been my enemy, and now… I wanted him to kiss me everywhere. And I meant, everywhere.
“Kiss me,” I whispered.
Lowering his head, he pressed his lips against mine. The air rushed out of my nose, noisy against his cheek as our kiss deepened and my insides quivered. His arms came around me, tugging me onto his lap as he leant against the wall.
“Alishia.” He gasped, taking his mouth off mine. “There’s something you need to know.”
Heavy breathing filled the room as we stared at one another. Logical thinking had gone out of the window, but I didn’t care. He wanted to take care of me. It wasn’t the right reason to give myself to him, however, I couldn’t help the urgent need to have his arms around me.
Bending his head, he put his mouth next to my ear. “I think I’m falling for you.”
Fireworks exploded in my mind as the ice around my heart liquefied, falling away. Oxygen got stuck in my throat, making me choke. His gaze met mine as I pulled back to look into his eyes. Was he serious? Or was he telling me what I wanted to hear to get me into bed?
My bullshit detector was heightened, and yet, I couldn’t hear the normal alarm bells that rang when a lie was spotted. Was it possible that the popular Dracian Dread actually had feelings for me?
“Are you going to say anything?” His small laugh made me smile.
Taking his face in my hands, I kissed him deeply. He held me close, our bodies flush against one another as I threaded my hands through the back of his hair.
A bang on the door made us jump apart. Our
breathing was rapid, our chests rising and falling in unison.
“Mrs Hinley told me to hurry you up!” Izzy called. “I don’t want to know what’s going on in there, but I also don’t want a bollocking from her.”
“Coming,” I called, trying not to giggle when it came out as a squeak.
“I hope not!” Izzy’s reply was laced with disgust. “That’s too much info.”
Wait, how had one word become sexual innuendo through the door? My friend had a dirty mind.
Dracian took off his jacket and tugged his shirt over his head. The lines of his muscles ran smooth down over his chest. Wow, I was one lucky academy student.
“You better go change,” he said.
A grin crossed his face, no doubt from noticing my eyes popping out of my head. A clean T-shirt slipped over his oh so pretty muscular torso, covering the goods. A sigh escaped unbidden as I reached up and kissed his cheek.
“Don’t forget what you confessed,” I said. “I can’t be losing that…” Wagging my finger up and down in front of his chest, I stayed serious. “… after seeing it.”
Slipping a hand onto the back of my neck, he squeezed gently as his lips covered my mouth. His kiss was greedy, affirming.
“I think I love you, Alishia,” he whispered when his lips released mine.
“Did I just hear…? Why are you still kissing?” Isabel’s shout was loud in the hallway.
“Quit your listening spell!” Dracian shouted back. “Pervert!”
Taking his hands, I stroked his thumbs. “I think I love you, too, Mr Dread.”
A grin spread across his mouth as he kissed me quickly and let go. Muttering from the hallway made it far too uncomfortable for a serious discussion about our feelings. Plus, we had things to do.
Shit, we really did!
Panic encased me, forcing me to spin and head for the door. If I wasn’t careful, I would lose the magic I had taken from James. The poor guy was stuck in hospital, missing a limb, and there we were, about to rip each other’s clothes off. Naughty, naughty Alishia.
Yanking on the door, I barged into Izzy who stood on the other side. She had her arms crossed over her perfectly pressed uniform. I had never seen her in the full gear before. Why was she suddenly conforming?
“Sorry about that,” I muttered, moving past her as Dracian came out behind me.
Holding up her hands, Isabel joined our march down the hallway, ranting about all sorts of nonsense. My mind was swirling with images of James’ missing limb and then the feeling of Dracian’s lips on mine. It was a weird, messed up mixture of emotions.
“You almost died,” Izzy said as we trotted down the steps to the main entrance. “I’m not surprised you got hot and heated, but-”
Swinging towards her, I stopped her with a hand on the chest. “Izzy, please. That…” Pointing back up the stairs, I tried to control the heat that flooded my face. “… was supposed to be a private moment.”
Her eyes widened before she quickly nodded. “Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry.”
Dracian put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. Her frantic energy was making her agitated, which in turn spread into me.
“Let’s go and get this magic out,” Dracian suggested.
Without replying, I turned and resumed my rush to the lab. The others followed, talking amongst themselves about what had happened. Mrs Hinley had updated Izzy and Helissa, although hadn’t gone into too much detail about James.
“I just can’t believe it.” Izzy’s sob was accompanied by Dracian’s comforting words.
Pushing open the lab door as soon as we reached it, I sighed in relief. The need to get away from the grief, from the dramatics of Izzy, made it almost impossible not to cast a silence spell on my ears.
The lab was set up in a modern scientific way. Grey walls, grey floor, grey desks. Several plastic chairs were gathered in a circle in the middle of the room, obviously left over from a previous class. Science and magic mixed in the lab, being taught by a male teacher who had crazy light blonde hair that stuck up at the ends. I had enjoyed his classes so far, but he was an eccentric man who struggled with the boundaries of the two disciplines.
“You took your time!” Mrs Hinley snapped from the corner of the room.
Helissa stood beside her, leaning towards a computer screen. I went over without answering, only a bit embarrassed by the fact that I was still dressed in my dusty uniform. I didn’t have time to dally – cough, hypocrite Alishia, cough – I had to get the DNA out of my aura.
“How do I do it?” I asked Mrs Hinley.
Pursing her lips, she eyed my state of disarray before getting to work. Indicating a small flat box, she showed me what to do as she spoke. “Put your hand here, palm down. Press hard and if you can, release the magic you picked up. I’m assuming you know how to do it better than us as it’s not something we naturally do.”
Placing my fingers on the cold black top of the box, I pushed my hand down and closed my eyes. I hadn’t bothered to recharge my magic, but I had been playing tonsil hockey with Dracian, so a bit of his magic had filtered into me. I had to be careful to separate the two.
Concentrating, I felt into my body, searching for the energy that wasn’t familiar. As soon as I allowed my magical tentacles to stretch, a rush of magic surged up and into my chest. The darkness of the imprint made me shudder as I forced it down my arm. Pain made me clench my other hand as the unfamiliar feeling almost ripped the muscles that the magic travelled through. I wasn’t used to expelling magic without using a spell.
“It’s working,” Helissa announced, tapping the keyboard in front of her.
She hadn’t even looked at me, she was so engrossed in the task in front of her. A glowing bar chart blinked on the screen, showing a reading of numbers and alchemy that I didn’t understand. Whoever had invented the machine had been beyond genius.
As the last trace of magic left me, I slouched forward, taking a deep breath. Dracian’s hand rested on my shoulder, flinching when I lifted my head to look at him.
“I can’t feel any magic,” he whispered.
Mrs Hinley patted my back and asked Helissa to let her access the computer. “Usually, first year students wouldn’t see this work, but as you’re all involved, you’re getting an early lesson.”
A beep alerted our teacher to… something. Going closer, I focused on the message on the screen. Magical imprint had been detected.
“What do you do now?”
Tapping a few letters on the keypad, Mrs Hinley triggered a search. Scrolls of photos with names and profiles flickered across the screen, each one turning red almost instantly.
“This is the witch and warlock magical database. Most of London’s witch and warlock population are on here, especially the criminals.”
“How did they get our magical imprint?” Dracian’s voice was tight, disturbed.
It wasn’t surprising, I felt a twinge of violation at the thought of the government having my magical imprint and I didn’t even have one.
Glancing over her shoulder, Mrs Hinley blinked slowly. “That’s not information I can give out. If you become an agent-”
“When,” Dracian interrupted her.
As she raised her eyebrows, I bit my tongue. Dracian could be a little too confident at times, but even I knew that he was going to be a successful agent. It was a pain in the arse that he had so much confidence, especially when I wasn’t sure if I’d even get through first year at this rate.
The clench of her jaw released when she sighed. “You remind me of the professor.”
Turning her back on us, she stared at the screen. I waited to see what she wanted us to do, but she stayed silent, her stature completely still. She was probably praying to Mother Earth that the witch who had hurt her son would be in the database.
“Are you okay?” Helissa whispered, drawing my attention away from the screen.
Moving back, we left Mrs Hinley and Dracian to finish the search. It would only take ten minute
s in total, but the wait was making me sweat.
Looking into Helissa’s eyes, I saw the concern etched there. Without warning, she threw her arms around me and squeezed. Her whole body shook as she sucked in a loud breath, obviously trying to stop herself from crying.
“I’m okay. We’re okay. James is… he’ll be okay.”
Tears popped into her eyes, her throat bobbing as she swallowed. She was trying so hard to keep control. It must have been so hard to know that the person you really fancied had been through hell and back.
“I can’t believe what happened to him,” she said, almost choking on her words. “I don’t know what I can do.”
Isabel had been quiet up until that point, but came over and put her arms around us.
Licking my lips, I gripped Helissa’s hands in mine. “Just be there for him, it’s all you can do.”
Her small nod made my heart bleed for them. A young couple, about to embark on a similar love affair to Dracian and I, had been blasted with a traumatic event beyond comprehension. I would’ve blamed myself, but learning that several other students had lost parents made me determined to take myself off the pity train. This was bigger than me.
“Nothing,” Mrs Hinley spat, making us jump.
Thrusting up from her chair, she picked up an empty mug and launched it across the room. All four of us stood, staring open mouthed as she ranted about how bad the agencies were nowadays. In her time, they were apparently a lot better.
I wanted to try and soothe her, but there was no point. I understood the frustration, feeling it slide through me as I released Helissa. No one in the database matched the magical imprint from James. That sucked big garlicy dough balls.
Mrs Hinley steadied herself as she ran shaky hands over her hair, checking it was in place. Her gaze was glued to the floor, staring at a small mark etched on the lino floor.
“You better get back to class.”
Frowning, I glanced at Dracian. He had been looking at the shattered mug, his finger hovering in the air. Was he going to clean up the mess?
With a swipe of his finger, the white shards disappeared. Not saying anything, he picked up his backpack – I hadn’t even noticed that he’d brought it with him – and turned to leave.
Undercover Witch Academy Box Set Page 28
