Academy of Magic Collection

by Angelique S Anderson et al.

  “I think there might be a strict no-smoking policy within the dorm,” Eve reminded her roommate as she held her sleeve to her nose.

  “School policy is the least of my concern,” Grace muttered as she finished another circuit.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Casting a protective circle,” she said, dousing the burning herbs in a nearby glass of water on her desk. “Similar to the one they prepared for our summoning test.”

  “How did you learn to do that, anyway?”

  Grace shrugged as she sat on the edge of her bed. “I found some old books in my attic once, thought it was a cool thing to do. I never thought any of it would actually work.”

  “Does it?”

  Another shrug. “I never got attacked by the boogie man in my sleep.”

  Eve couldn’t contain the snort that escaped, and Grace’s responding smile made it worth it. Reaching over, Grace took a book off a nearby pile, and Eve had to wrap her arms around the remaining books to keep them from toppling over.

  “I don’t see why we’re doing this research anyway,” she muttered as she placed the book in her lap and began flipping through the pages. “He’s a professor. Shouldn’t he know this stuff already?”

  “Maybe it’s a test?” Eve offered as she tossed another useless book onto the floor and picked up another. “Or maybe it’s a punishment for cheating on our exams.”

  “We didn’t cheat,” Grace corrected.

  Eve glanced at her over the books. “Does help make it sound better?”

  “Yes.”

  “Fine. Maybe it’s punishment for you helping me pass my exam. If I even did pass.”

  “Why do you think you didn’t?”

  “Other than raising the demon destined to torture the reincarnation of Faust?”

  Grace shook her head. “If what we did-- if what you did-- was something that could have gotten us expelled, I think they would have done it by now. But because Phylis was summoned, I think that’s all the more reason why we’re leaving anytime soon.”

  “At least until we figure out who’s Faust and get rid of the demon.”

  “Which you will do as soon as we figure out--”

  A knock on their door stopped Grace mid-sentence, and both girls looked to the door expectantly.

  “It’s open,” Grace called, loud enough for whomever was on the other side of the door to hear.

  Silently, the door swung open, and standing on the threshold was Professor Jonathan Moore.

  “Jonathan--I mean-- Professor Moore,” Eve said as she jumped from the bed, toppling books to the floor as she did so. “What are you doing here?”

  He was once again in a button-down shirt-- green this time-- with jeans and those perfectly sculpted curls in his face. He gave Eve a sincerely apologetic smile. “I know this may be a bad time, but I was wondering if you were available for that cup of coffee?”

  “I… what?”

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” Grace muttered as she looked back down at her book.

  Eve shot her a glare before responding. “Don’t you think this is a bad time-- I mean-- with everything that’s happened? And the research? And--”

  “That’s part of the reason I’m here. I’d like to explain. And discuss where we go from here.”

  “Great,” Grace said, pushing the book aside. “I’ll get my jacket--”

  “I’m sorry, Ms. Sheppard. As this involves Ms. Revere’s academic future, I’m afraid it’s confidential and only to be discussed between her and myself.”

  “But I was there too,” Grace said, jumping up. “I saw what happened, I can help.”

  “And you will,” he assured her. “But Evangeline and I need to talk first.”

  “It’s okay, Grace,” Eve said with a sigh. She motioned for Jonathan to come inside. “I just need to get my shoes.”

  But he hesitated outside the door, not moving from where he stood as his face contorted as if in concentration. “I--I’m sorry. I can’t. It’s not appropriate. For the faculty to enter a student’s room.”

  “Really?” Grace arched a delicate brow as Eve glanced up.

  Clearing his throat, Jonathan looked to Eve. “Are you ready, Ms. Revere?”

  “I’m ready,” she said, standing, but first turned to Grace. “It’s fine. What’s the worst that can happen? We summon another demon?”

  Grace glared. “Not funny.”

  Eve gave her a reassuring half-smile. “It’s just coffee. I’ll be back for dinner.”

  “If we’re allowed to leave for dinner,” Grace said loud enough for Jonathan to hear, but he seemed to be too busy staring at his shoes.

  Eve squeezed her shoulder. “I’ll be back.”

  Grace finally nodded, but her stare tossed daggers in Jonathan’s direction, even as Eve closed the door behind her.

  They walked across campus to the small cafe in the basement of one of the academic buildings. She let him pay; served him right for being an ass and allowing her to think he was an upperclassman. Jonathan ordered his coffee black, while Eve preferred the more millennial small caramel macchiato with nonfat milk. She caught his smirk as she rambled her order off like it was a memorized mantra, and she kept her focus on the barista until their drinks were ready.

  He led them back out to the gardens, stopping at the Summoner’s fountain before taking a seat on the edge of the marble basin. Eve followed suit, sipping on her macchiato and relishing the sweet espresso as it nearly burned her throat. Anything was better than needing to talk, even when she wanted to lash out and scream at him for being a two-faced bastard.

  He saved her the effort when he broke the silence a few sips later.

  “I suppose I owe you an explanation,” he said softly as though wanting to keep their conversation as private as possible despite the public setting.

  “At the least,” Eve murmured.

  “It was wrong of me to keep the truth of my position from you.”

  “You let me think you were a student,” she accused.

  “Technically I did no such thing,” he said as he glanced at her. “You made that assumption on your own.”

  Eve opened her mouth to protest but closed it. Thinking back to the few interactions she had had with him…. he was right. The revelation made her glare at him while she took another sip of her drink. “And you knew I was going to eventually figure it out.”

  “Once you had your summoning exam, I assumed so. And I suspected you’d have taken the information one of two ways.”

  “Which were?”

  “One, you’d hate me for not disclosing the truth and never speak to me again.”

  “And two?”

  He grinned. “You’d still have coffee with me anyway.”

  She wanted to throw her macchiato in his face for that, but Eve refrained, and took a deep breath.

  “So tell me about my academic future,” she asked. “The one that was so confidential you wouldn’t allow Grace to come with us.”

  “Ah, yes.” He chuckled uneasily. “Though I do have to speak to you about your exams, it’s not as confidential as I may have insinuated.”

  “You lied to get me alone?”

  “I may have bent the truth.” Jonathan turned to face her, his knee brushing against her thigh. She didn’t move away from the contact-- she wouldn’t allow him to see her squirm.

  “And since we’re going to need to work together,” he continued, “I assumed it best to d have the necessary discussion without the proverbial elephant in the room.”

  “Or demon on the campus.”

  “Yes,” he mused, running a hand through his dark curls. “There is that. I noticed you found the books I suggested.”

  “Everything except the Compendium Maleficarum We couldn’t find that one anywhere.”

  Jonathan openly frowned and dropped his gaze to the coffee paper cup between his hands. “That one should have been there. There were no notes in the library’s system to indicate it had been checked out.”


  “Well, sorry to disappoint you, but we asked, and the librarian couldn’t find it.”

  “Nothing you do could ever disappoint me, Evangeline.”

  She looked to him, only to have his eyes meet hers. She hated the way his eyes were so crystal clear that it seemed as though she could almost see into his soul. As if something in them was screaming at her to believe him.

  He maintained her gaze as he kept his voice low. “Both you and Grace will be placed within the Summoning school come Monday.”

  “So you can keep an eye on us?”

  “Yes, exactly that. Not only do you both display exceptional skill, but knowing what we do about Blade, I’m not going to allow either of you anywhere near him without my protection.”

  “You can’t be with us twenty-four-seven,” she reminded him.

  “Which is why the two of you will need to be there for each other when I’m not.”

  “Will you stop being so reasonable?”

  “Only when you stop being so intriguing.”

  “Will you cut that out?” she snapped even as her cheeks flushed.

  “Did you truly not know about your mother’s history here?” he asked instead of acknowledging her request.

  “For someone who seems to know so much about me already, why don’t you tell me.”

  He smiled. “Fair enough, Evangeline.”

  She scowled. “I hate using my full name.”

  “And why is that?”

  “It’s just so…”

  “Greek?”

  Her brows furrowed. “I was going to say formal.”

  “Evangeline means ‘bearer of good news.’ It’s also the title of a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.”

  “You certainly know a lot.”

  “I’m a scholar. It is my life’s work to know.”

  He stood and offered her a hand. Instead she handed him her empty coffee cup and stood on her own. Nothing seemed to faze him as he stacked the cups together in one hand and smoothly began to walk back to the academic buildings.

  “I’d like for us to meet again, Evangeline.”

  “You mean, like a date?” She stopped walking.

  He turned on his heel to face her, an amused look on his face. “I meant to continue our research and see how best we can move forward to extract the demon from Blade while also bringing forth your powers. But if you’d like to call it a date, we most certainly can.”

  Her fingernails dug into the palms of her hands. “I’ll be sure to let Grace know and we’ll see if we can work it into our schedule, Professor Moore.”

  “But of course.” He nodded his head with a gleam in his eye. “I’ll see you in class on Monday, then, Evangeline.”

  He didn’t wait for her to respond before he headed back to the academic buildings, which meant he didn’t know she was watching him as he walked away.

  Chapter Twelve

  Classes started as they were supposed to the following Monday, and in the interim Eve and Grace continued their research per Professor Moore’s request. Eve made a point not to go anywhere without Grace since her meeting with Jonathan, and Grace didn’t ask twice when Eve insisted she remain by her side. Nothing was asked about what was said between Eve and Jonathan during their meeting, and in fact nothing was said of Jonathan at all until they both walked in together to their first Summoning class.

  Compared to their trials, the class was rudimentary at best, as if Professor Moore was afraid to allow anyone else to actually partake in a summoning after what Eve--and Grace-- had done during the field exams. Whether anyone realized it or not, there was an underlying message in everything Moore taught them.

  When demons are summoned, you need to send them back.

  “Why is he even having us look through these books if he already knows what’s in them?” Grace groaned as they walked from his class.

  “I think it’s because he needs to make sure we know it. Like a test, but only this time the stakes are much, much higher.”

  “And it gives him an excuse to spend more time with you.”

  “It’s not like that,” Eve insisted.

  “You can’t say that when he was practically staring at you throughout the entire class.”

  “My seat was in the middle of the lecture hall! He couldn’t not look at me.”

  Grace gave her a skeptical look and Eve sighed. She hated that Grace was right. Hated it even more because she couldn’t stop watching him throughout class either. He was arrogant and devious and a horrible liar, but despite all that there was something charming and mysterious and…

  “It’s the accent,” Eve conceded.

  “Blade has an accent,” Grace countered.

  “Blade is also an asshole possessed by a demon.”

  “And heading straight towards us.”

  Professor Blade was dressed in the faculty’s typical three-piece, Victorian era suit, this one completely black. The dark material seemed to cast shadows across his features, and he looked more evil than usual.

  “Do you two have any idea what you are doing?” Blade snarled as he closed the distance between them.

  Eve immediately positioned herself between the professor and Grace, squaring her shoulders and putting on her bitch-face. “I believe we’re walking across campus after our scheduled class, Professor.”

  “Neither of you should be anywhere near Moore, do you understand me?”

  “Why? Is there something he knows that you don’t want him to tell anyone else?”

  “The two of you are dealing with something far greater than you can comprehend, and so help us if either of you are the reincarnation of Faust--”

  “Or what, Sebastian?”

  Professor Moore strolled towards them, hands stuffed into the pockets of his suit pants. Eve and Grace parted to allow him to walk between them and face off against Blade.

  “You,” Blade hissed. “Do you have any idea--”

  “I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Moore said casually, his attention on the clouds in the sky rather than Blade’s seething temper. “Do you happen to know what’s happened to the library’s copy of the Compendium Maleficarum?”

  Blade bared his teeth and looked like he would have ripped out Moore’s throat if there weren’t a crowd of students forming around them. Moore remained where he stood, calm and casual even as Eve and Grace tensed on either side of him.

  But Blade turned back to Eve, his eyes raging like an inferno. “So help us,” he growled once again before he pushed past Moore, knocking his shoulder and forcing Eve to step out of the way as he marched through the group of surrounding students, reprimanding them for loitering.

  “Didn’t I tell you to not leave my sight,” Moore said as he brushed off his immaculate suit.

  “We were walking from class,” Eve said. “You were expecting us to wait for you to hold our hands?”

  “Not exactly, but--”

  “Don’t,” Eve cut him off.

  Moore smiled. “I was going to invite you two to my office. For lunch. To further discuss your research.”

  Eve glanced to Grace, who was frowning at Jonathan.

  He put his hands up, almost defensively. “I merely want to ensure we’re all on the same page. Especially with Blade growing more confrontational as the days go on.”

  “What’s his problem, anyway?” Eve glanced back over her shoulder, just to make sure he wasn’t going to reemerge from wherever he had disappeared to.

  “He knows the reincarnation of Faust is near,” Moore said quietly. “Phylis is threatened by the possibility of battle, and therefore he’s trying to keep us apart.”

  “Why would be want to do that?” Grace asked, her tone sounding suspicious.

  “Because he knows I know his secret. And knows I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure Eve is ready for that battle when it comes.”

  “Me?” Eve spun back to face him. “You’ve got to be--”

  “Lunch. My office. I insist. And then we’ll dis
cuss this at length.”

  With another look to Grace, she nodded.

  “Fantastic, I’ll see you two then.” He moved to walk away but stopped and turned back. “Bring the library books. I don’t want them anywhere Blade could get his hands on them.”

  “We’ve cast a protective circle,” Grace told him. “He won’t be able to get to them.”

  A smirk formed on his lips. “I assure you, Ms. Sheppard. Your sage won’t save you now.”

  “The Compendium Maleficarum is like the decoder for demon possession.”

  Jonathan was pacing behind his desk while eating a sandwich. Both Eve and Grace sat at the small table in his office, eating their salads while simultaneously trying to make sense of what he was saying.

  “It’s an old witch-hunter's manual, completely written in Latin, by an Italian named Francesco Maria Guazzo back in 1608. Not only does it discuss witches' pacts with the devil and detailed descriptions of powers and poisons, but it also contains Guazzo's classification of demons, and that is why we need the book, and why I know Blade has it.”

  “You think he’s keeping it for himself so that we can’t out him as the demon?” Eve asked around a mouthful of lettuce.

  “But if Eve can just summon Faust, we won’t need it anyway, right?” Grace added.

  “You’re both correct. But the book is still imperative to our summoning, and Eve’s powers have some ways to go. Which is why I’ve tasks for both of you.”

  “I knew there was something more to all of this than just lunch,” Eve murmured.

  “Other than it being another date?” Moore winked.

  “What do you want us to do?” Grace asked, purposely dodging the flirtatious banter Moore was trying to start.

  Moore walked around his desk and leaned back against it. He had taken off his suit jacket, leaving him in a dress shirt covered by a vest. There was a silver pocket watch with a delicate chain slipped into one pocket, and as he crossed his arms over his chest, Eve could make out the strong muscles of his arms through his shirt.

  “Ms. Sheppard, I would ask that you find a way into Professor Blade’s office to retrieve the Compendium Maleficarum.”