Academy of Magic Collection

by Angelique S Anderson et al.

  Blackfox fell silent as he peered into the chest cavity of the butler.

  Fascinated by the inner workings of the robot, Rase could only watch, frozen in place, gaping. A large light blinked in the center of Hobson’s chest. Rase could almost hear the thud-thud-thud. Tubes ran away from the center pumps into each appendage and back again. Rase couldn’t tell what sort of liquid it was, but it functioned as Hobson’s circulatory system.

  Blackfox placed a small pin between his lips and pressed the tip of a soldering iron to the motherboard. Once a small drop of molten metal formed, he placed the pin in the melted spot. The spot grew until Blackfox took the free end of a small wire and fixed it in the quickly-cooling metal. Then he attached the other end of the snippet to the largest board in Hobson’s chest.

  Blackfox studied his work and then nodded. He closed the butler’s chest with a snap. “That should do it.”

  The butler straightened. “Yes sir. Thank you, sir.”

  “Now, why don’t you give me the message you had for me before your episode?”

  “Merrie said there’s an injured gryphon in downtown New Haven City. It’s prowling outside of Jason’s church, pretending to be a gargoyle.”

  Blackfox tapped his chin. “Jason’s church?”

  “Our Lady of the Park,” Hobson said.

  “That complicates things, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes, sir,” the butler agreed. “If we wish to remain discreet.”

  Shuffling sounded in the room. But the information piqued Rase’s ears as an idea snowballed in his brain.

  Maybe a marauding creature was the best way to convince Jess to break her parents’ rules. What if a distressed animal was the perfect way to get her to remember she could still communicate with beasts?

  Blackfox and Hobson continued their conversation in hushed tones, and Rase slipped out. In the foyer, he dragged his cell phone from his pocket.

  He pulled up Jess’s name and typed twenty-three characters into the text box, but he didn’t hit send. Not yet.

  He had to convince Jess to accompany him to New Haven City.

  Chapter Five

  Pearl Monkeys

  New Haven High

  A hobbit hole.

  Jess had been sent to a half-sized closet door.

  She shook her head and crossed her arms. She’d been a student for three years, how had she missed the weird little entrance? Prickles ran along her skin. It didn’t make any sense. None of it did. Not the class skipping. Not the assignment.

  Rather than a solid door, it seemed to be made of vertical planks. Singed edges met the floor. Jess wasn’t tall, but she’d have to hunch over to get inside. Beside the entrance to the basement, fellow students came and went out of the restrooms. Some of them whispered behind their hands, their furtive glances telling Jess everything she needed to know.

  The bell rang for the end of the period. Students flooded into the hallways, rushing from one class to another, but Jess stared at the door. Someone slammed into Jess’s back, and she took a step forward.

  “Oh, my gosh, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t watching.”

  The high-pitched voice broke through Jess’s shock, and she turned to face the offender.

  Instead of a mean girl, like Jess expected, a girl Jess didn’t recognize stared back. Big, dark brown eyes sparkled in the sunlight flooding the hallway from the windows in the ceiling. The girl’s dark hair stuck out in all directions: curly and haphazard.

  “I’m sorry.” The girl stuck out her hand. “My name is Zenith.”

  Jess studied the hand and then peered at the kid who offered it. Zenith looked too young to be a freshman.

  Zenith cleared her throat and shook her hand in mid-air.

  Jess took Zenith’s hand, pumped it twice, and then let go.

  Zenith flashed a thumbs-up. “You’re the first person I’ve met today that made eye contact. Everyone else didn’t bother… and decided to remain boring.”

  “Boring?”

  “They enjoy phones more than people. I’m the opposite. To the extreme.” Zenith wiggled her eyebrows. “What’s your name?”

  Jess tipped her head to the side. The new kid said anything that came into her head. It might be interesting to see how far the compulsion went. Jess hesitated for three seconds, counting in her mind.

  Silence usually made others uncomfortable, but Zenith didn’t bite her lip or shift from side to side or reach for her smart phone. She merely waited. Interesting.

  “My name is Jess Roberts.”

  Zenith grinned and the change in expression made her seem even younger. “Now, Jess Roberts, I know what you’re thinking.”

  Jess raised a brow. “What’s that?”

  “That I’m too young to be here.”

  “Good guess,” Jess said. “You must have heard it before.”

  “Not as often as you might think. People don’t notice what they don’t look at. I’m not a smart phone, so people forget to look at me.” Zenith grinned again. “Except you. You made eye contact. Do you even have a phone?”

  The query brought Rase to Jess’s mind. “I do, but I don’t need it for anything right now.”

  Zenith’s gaze at the brass key in Jess’s hand. “What are you doing?”

  “I’ve been given detention.” At Zenith’s look, Jess added, “During class for some reason. I’m not sure. I have to organize things. Alone? I guess?”

  “What things?”

  “Maybe I’ll know when I see them.”

  Zenith elbowed Jess. “You’re a lucky Jekyll-Hyde.”

  Jess snickered. “A lucky what?”

  Before Zenith could answer, a long beep sounded to mark two-minutes until next period. Jess didn’t move from her spot in front of the bathrooms, but Zenith darted forward.

  “I’ve gotta go,” Zenith called over her shoulder and then darted into the women’s restroom. “Maybe I’ll see you later.”

  “Maybe,” Jess whispered. She turned back to the short door.

  Zenith shined in a way that most normies didn’t. She could be an interesting person to get to know. Maybe she could fill the best-friend position. Jess sighed. She couldn’t stand in the hallway forever, could she?

  Of course not.

  Ms. Ziva-Hazel would be down any moment to check on progress. She had to have something to show for the time she’d been standing there. Didn’t she?

  Jess glanced up and down the emptying hallway. She could serve her time, or she could make a break for it. She studied the glass doors at the end of the hall. No students remained. No teachers were in sight.

  What a fantastic way to end her first detention… bursting from the inside as though she’d unexpectedly been freed from her mortal prison.

  She could be free. For today. For five minutes. With Zenith in the loo, nobody would notice her escape. At least until Jess shattered the double glass doors.

  Jess glanced at her palm. The brass key waited, beckoned almost, glinting in the light. What would she find in the basement? Why had she been excused from classes?

  She didn’t want her mom and dad to get called down to the school. That never ended well, and nobody could dispel rumors once they got started. She couldn’t do that to her parents.

  Jess took a step forward and shoved the brass shaft into the keyhole and turned it to the right. She turned it again, listening for the click of the mechanics inside. Around the key went… one, two, three times.

  A loud click echoed from one side of the school to other, and the floor quaked beneath Jess’s feet. A deep thud followed. Jess felt the sound in the pit of her stomach, and her breath came in quick gasps.

  She chewed her bottom lip. When did New Haven High get a detention dungeon?

  With one long squeak, the complaining hinges opened. The gate swung outward to the left, exposing a steep wooden staircase that led into an inky blackness. Dusty cobwebs blocked the way. No light shone from the depths, but the sound of scraping wafted upward on the musty breeze.


  Jess’s heartbeat pounded in her ear. She’d never had anything remotely exciting happen to her. Her fear warred with her curiosity. Creepy basements and shadows that danced. The stuff of nightmares and goosebumps. Shivery in all the best ways.

  She stepped down onto the first stair riser and took a deep breath of the earthy scents. How many spiders and spooky, crawly things waited for her down there? Would arachnids let themselves be organized? Why did she hesitate? What called her on?

  To the right, Zenith exited the bathroom as the final tone sounded through the school’s public address system. Instead of hurrying to her classroom, she halted beside Jess and tugged on Jess’s sleeve. “Hey.”

  Jess answered without turning her head. “Hey.”

  “It’s dark down there.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You going down?”

  “I have to. Detention.”

  “Really? Have to? This probably qualifies as cruel and unusual.”

  Jess didn’t answer. Her whole body tingled. Something was down there that she had to see. She needed to. Whatever it was called to her.

  Zenith inched closer, trying to peer over Jess’s shoulder, crowding behind Jess on the top step.

  Jess braced herself against the doorframe. Tumbling down wasn’t the way to meet anybody. Even a grumbly giant.

  “What’s down there to organize? Spiders?” Zenith asked.

  Jess licked her lips. She hated spiders. “I don’t know.”

  “Miss Zenith, do you have a reason to be in the hall after the final bell?” The strident voice of the crankiest teacher at New Haven High ricocheted off the hall.

  “No, Miss Northweather,” Zenith called and yanked the key from the lock. She shoved it toward Jess, nearly knocking Jess down the stairs.

  “Hey!” Jess yelled. “Watch it.”

  Zenith shoved again. “Get in there. Us others have to look out for each other.”

  Jess shoved her shoulder against Zenith. “Stop it. Others? What are you doing?” Maybe I don’t want to get eaten by giant spiders or trolls or… A thump shook the risers. Whatever else might be down there.

  “Who’s over there with you?” Miss Northweather shrilled.

  “Get down there already, Jess,” Zenith whispered. She shoved Jess’s hands out of the way and pushed at the heavy door. Before it latched, she whispered, “Have an adventure for me.”

  Musty, oozy smells assailed Jess’s nose. Shrouded in black, Jess trembled. Instead of groping for a light switch, she extended her hand, summoning a burst of flame and letting it dance along her skin. The heat moved the air around her, shifting the cobwebs back and forth.

  Bumps and bangs came from beneath. How could they see?

  Jess moved down two more stairs, peering into the dark. “Who’s there?”

  Someone—or something—sniffed, but no answer met Jess.

  Sweat moistened her upper lip, and tension vibrated within her. She increased the fire on her palm and took several more steps. Step number seven creaked so loud it split the silence the way thunder sliced through a stormy day.

  A deep voice mumbled and rumbled, speaking in words Jess couldn’t understand.

  She made her way down more steps. “Who’s there?”

  The scent of sour milk and sweat wafted in the air. More mutterings. Metal slammed against metal, but Jess kept stepping forward, drawn by some unseen force. Her heart throbbed in her chest.

  She drew magic from the air and pushed it toward her flickering palm. A shadow moved across the space, resembling a dark mountain.

  “Who’s there?”

  “Just me,” the dark blob growled.

  “Who?”

  “A nightmare.”

  Jess’s sharp intake of breath drew her flame toward her face. “What’s that?”

  A lamp flicked on and blinded Jess almost immediately.

  Before her eyes could adjust, the voice growled again, “Who sent you down here?”

  “Miss Hazel.”

  “Hmm,” it answered. “Not likely. Miss Hazel doesn’t know I’m here.”

  Jess’s eyes adjusted, and she gaped.

  Facing her, a stony-cheeked ogre sat on the other side of a large, wooden slab with an overstuffed shelf beneath. On the nearest corner of the butcher block, a lamp cast light over the surface, exposing a tiny primate, prone body in front of the beast. Only about ten inches long, the small, limp creature shined. It didn’t glow; it shimmered as though it had been fashioned from mother of pearl. The big blob shifted the tiny being one way and then the other.

  Jess rubbed her eyes once and then rubbed them again. The large beast did not disappear. Neither did the small primate.

  It sniffed at her, and its upper lip curled into its skillet-sized nose. “Didn’t expect a visitor for my supper. A gawky one at that.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ve not met anyone like you before. Do you have a name?”

  “Preeme. I am the king of this domain.”

  “Preeme?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “Oh.” She’d never seen anything like either creature, and she’d grown up with a witch of a mother. Wordless, she ogled until it sighed, as though it carried the weight of the world on its shoulders.

  He resumed rolling the little creature one way and then the other. “Not much meat on this one. Must be young.”

  “Are you its doctor?” she asked. “Is it hurt?”

  The troll didn’t answer but kept turning the creature this way and that. Finally, he pried the creature’s mouth open and threw a capsule inside.

  Tearing her eyes away from the curious scene, she spun slowly, taking in the expanse of the basement. Cinder blocks made up the walls. The basement roof—the floor of the school—rose twelve feet above, but, when standing, the top of the beast’s head grazed the ceiling.

  “How long have you been down here?” Her voice wobbled, cutting the musty quiet of beneath. “Who put you down here?”

  “I’ve been here as long as I can remember.”

  “How long is that?”

  He looked past her. “Since before mortals ran from bombs and long sirens. Time adds and slips away.” He placed a tray of utensils on the table beside his little patient. “Sunrises and sunsets mean nothing down here.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I could not find a cave and a man directed me to the nearest basement.”

  “Is that your child? Do you have a family down here?”

  “Hardly,” he harrumphed.

  Jess inched closer, lifting the light on her palm above her head. “What are you?”

  Preeme squinted at her, heavy brows drawn low. “I’m the cellar troll. We are solitary beasts.” He glared at her hand. “We don’t like too much light.”

  “I’m sorry.” She dimmed the flame. “I’ve never heard of a cellar troll,” she repeated, her voice a whisper. Surely, her mother would have mentioned something like that. After all, they had a basement. What if they had one living beneath their house?

  Jess smiled. That settled it. She had to be dreaming.

  “When caves are in short supply, any large basement will do,” he grumbled. He stretched the limp body on the work bench in front of him, laying it out spread eagle. “I’d rather have a cave, truth be told, but the waiting list for the caves on the bay is a mile long. You have to sign a non-aggression pact with the housing association.” He shrugged and poked the limp primate in front of him. “Not worth it.”

  Jess inched closer, peering at the unconscious being. She bit back a gasp. It resembled a Golden Lion Tamarin. Its whole length was shorter than notebook paper. What a tumble of real life and fantasy her brain concocted.

  “How long have you lived here?”

  “You asked me that already.”

  “What should I ask you then?”

  Preeme pulled a thin sheet of shiny metal from beneath the table and placed it beside the utensils. “Don’t care.”

  “Oh,” Jess breathed.

&nb
sp; Preeme positioned the monkey-pearl on the silver rectangle. “I’m allowed to live here so long as I stay out of sight.” He gestured to the space. “I take care of the pests free of charge.”

  Jess frowned at the pair. “Who lets you?”

  “She that lets me stay. The one that makes the ward to keep me invisible to mortal eyes.” Preeme glanced at her. “You must have a degree of magic in your bones, lass.”

  “Who is that?”

  Before the giant could answer, a tiny arrow sailed out of the darkness. It lodged in the tip of Jess’s thick-soled shoe. She scowled and crouched down, plucking it from her foot. It had a tiny bit of fabric tied to the end. It resembled something a miniature William Wallace might have thrown.

  Jess studied the darkened corner. Twenty-something sets of full-moon eyes spied on them, lighting the darkness. She could sense the terror in each one, but she couldn’t make out the bodies they belonged to. “What are they? Why are they afraid?”

  Preeme cursed and jerked his head up. He picked up a dented pot, turned, and tossed it toward the corner that the arrow had sailed from. The prying eyes scattered, and their fear receded. “Keep your poison arrows to yerself. You can’t have it back.”

  She held the arrow up. “Why did they throw this at me?”

  “Its family wants it back,” the giant gruffed. “They break in every week and steal shiny bits from my horde.” It waved toward the primate creature on the table. “I take my due.”

  “Well, give the little thing back to them. Once you fix it, I mean.”

  “Now why would I do something so foolish as all that?” The beast spoke in low, monotone syllables, its words ominous. “I worked hard to trap it.”

  Jess froze. “Trap it? Why would you do that?”

  The troll didn’t answer.

  Between them, on the table, the primate’s eyes fluttered, and the moonbeam irises sparkled in the dim light. Its head twitched one way and then the other, its fur glinting. Its gaze fell on the giant troll above it, and its eyes widened.

  Jess felt twinges of fear drawing closer as a group, but one lightning bolt of terror struck her heart, drowning out every other. The little one on the table. She knew it as well as she knew her own name.