“These are lies,” Piers said. “No one can read a book of dark magic and emerge uncorrupted. The rules of the school strictly state that you can only study dark magic within the lessons you are assigned.”
I felt generally confused, because I didn’t like Piers, but it actually didn’t sound that unreasonable. When did reading a book of dark magic in a fantasy movie ever lead to anything good? They were always tempting and had unexpected consequences, and every professor had warned us about that.
“I banish the darkness within you,” Piers said, waving a hand over him after some pretentious Latin chanting.
The guy looked sickly as some dark smoke wafted out of him.
“Uhh…” He reached out like he was going to collapse, and Piers took his hand.
“It’s all right,” he said. “Feel the shadow as it passes away, and know that this is the consequence of your actions.”
“I’m going to throw up,” Lucas said, and then he did. I winced.
Piers was hardcore. When someone tells me they’re going to throw up, I put ten feet between me and that person, but Piers barely shuffled his feet out of the way while Lucas vomited on the ground and then slumped forward into the puddle.
“I can’t watch,” Montague said, kneading his forehead.
“Squeamish vampire,” I said, petting him.
Piers crouched over him and waved his wand down the length of his body. “Take him to the infirmary to recover,” he told some other staff members. “We are lucky this was caught early. This is serious. Merlin College is near the veil between worlds, as you all know—it’s what allows us to practice magic here. But the betrayal of Professor Blair has weakened its power. It is within the realm of possibility that Sinistrals could gain control of this space. This is, more than anything, why the council sent me here. You know the adage: if you see something, say something. No Sinistral magic is permitted.”
Was it my imagination, or did he look at me when he said it?
I was trying not to attract his attention, and he was mostly ignoring me after his attempt to purify me didn’t work, but I never got the sense he forgot me. If anything else, because Harris warned me that Piers would never forget something like that.
“You made him look stupid,” Harris said while we were quietly studying in the attic. “He’s just waiting for the moment when you won’t make him look stupid next time.”
“Right. Your family hates looking stupid,” I said.
“Everyone hates looking stupid,” Harris said.
“But some more than others,” Alec said. “I don’t really mind looking stupid. Most things, you can just shrug off.”
“And then you’re even more charming than before,” I said sweetly.
“We’ll see if you shrug it off when Piers figures out a way to make you look stupid,” Harris said.
“And we’ll see if you shrug it off when I make you look stupid,” I retorted.
Alec got up and clapped his hands like he was trying to break up fighting animals. “No! Bad wizards!” he said. “Go back to your study corners. I’m working on a paper on the history of lore and ritual at Merlin, and I just found something interesting. This has gotta be your hipster beard priest.”
He held up an old book with an old photograph of a guy with a beard and a priest collar. Father Patrick Early, Merlin College (1881-1883).
“Oh yeah, that’s him!”
“It says he was the first priest at the chapel here but—get this—he was ‘hired for his skill at holy healing, but dismissed when it was found that he consorted with faeries of dubious origins for his healing spells. The morning after his dismissal, Father Early took ill with a fever and was confined to his bed, never to leave it. He died three days later, near the stroke of midnight, and it has since been whispered that the faeries punished him for his carelessness with their secrets. It was said that Father Early’s wand came from a faery tree and it was burnt with his body on a pyre of ash wood to banish the fae magic in ritual fashion, but it has since been said that he haunts the chapel.’”
My hair stood on end. This was hardcore. Faery fevers? Giving a priest a frickin’ Game of Thrones death on our college campus? “We should tell Stuart that story.”
“So he had a Wyrd wand,” Harris said.
“Sounds like it…”
“Is this about the faeries, or is it about Wyrd itself?” Montague said. “We’ve always been told to beware of faeries and faery magic. But the council seems afraid of Wyrd. Like if we could tap into Wyrd magic, we would take ourselves out of the fight between Etherium and Sinistral, right? That’s what the council really doesn’t seem to want.”
“But why do they keep wanting to fight?”
“They have to fight,” Harris said. “There is only so much territory. Only so many humans who believe in magic.”
“Well, now I know why my great-grandmother was always like, ‘Never trust an Irish priest’,” Montague said. “They really do talk to faeries…”
Chapter Eighteen
Charlotte
we seem to be far from home.
I came to these dessert realms a long time ago once, Larius said. I was here with Firia…
you miss her…
“It’s desert,” Firian said. “One s. Why do you never get that one right?”
“Shut up. I’m being wistful about you.”
Yumi… Larius reached for the tiny ninja. Admittedly, you couldn’t really hug in Fortune’s Favor, so my dark mage looked pretty ridiculous thrusting his arms out toward her.
i miss firia too. <3 <3
“Oh, you talk in hearts now?” I asked Alec.
“Yumi talks in hearts. It’s role playing.”
“Should I be disturbed that you’re so in tune with a girly ninja?”
“Only if I should be disturbed that you’re a broody man in a cloak with skulls on your shoulders.”
We adventured together for so long, I typed. but I know I’ll free her from the curse.
in the meantime…i could ease your burdens.
It’s…not easy for me…to touch as you do. I was trained in the ways of killing, not love. But Yumi…if I am being honest, my cock does hunger for attention.
Alec looked at me and slowly licked his lips.
“Stop…” I started giggling.
“I thought you were trying to find Fortune’s Wheel and unlock your omega forms,” Firian said.
“We will.”
“I would focus on that first,” Firian said. “I would love to see what Firia’s omega form is.”
“Yeah,” I said, a little absently, as I chatted with Alec. Then I caught myself. I mean, Firian had no choice but to play spectator both as a boyfriend and my long-term gaming partner. Firian would have been all about this year’s new feature, omega forms, where you could evolve your character to unlock a super-powered form for short increments. Plus, one out of every hundred characters was a Chou-Omega with a sparkly omega form, and unless you unlocked yours, you didn’t know if you were blessed by the algorithm gods.
Nah, we were just dicking around instead. I was being a jerk. “Alec, we can find that sand crystal we need in the desert too.”
Some elven swordsman had just waltzed up to Alec’s girl and started chatting with us.
hey u know where to fight lord quron
u hot?
we could team up
hey u a girl? u hot?
“Do we know this dude?”
“No,” Firian said. “But maybe he’s a cue that you should just go to sleep.”
“It’s autumn break,” I said.
“Autumn break? So you get one extra day off for Halloween,” he said. “You still have studies to work on. Need I remind you that you’re training to be demon slayers?”
“If you had hands, you would be telling me I’m wimpy for going to bed at 1 am on a Friday night.”
“Yes,” he said. “But I don’t have hands and now I see the futility of this game and all human existence.”
“Do you want me to play Firia and try to unlock her omega form?”
“As much as I miss seeing her hot elven ass…no.” He watched me brush off the other player. “Maybe it’s Montague trying to hook up with you via the game. Are you still with him? I never see him around.”
“We’re still together,” I said, but I had noticed Montague seemed preoccupied since the failed purification. I hadn’t worried about it, because we were all busy with studies, and he still kissed me and there was a hot rendezvous in the third floor library records room one day, but come to think of it, I had four rings from Alec on my hands and none from Montague this whole week.
Hmm.
Is it starting to happen? Is he drifting toward his sire?
Alec yawned. “C’mere, Firian. I’ll scratch your head.”
“You can’t just buy me off like that. I don’t need your head scratches.”
Alec finished his cup of coffee, put his head in his hand, gave Firian a look that managed to be both sleepy and vaguely sultry while not being inappropriately so. He lifted a hand and waved his fingers slightly. “Firian. Life’s too short.”
“He’s incubusing me,” Firian said with a little huff.
“I’m incubuying you off,” Alec said.
“Oh, god, it’s too soon to work on your dad jokes.” I blocked the random dude. There is a cave…a private cave…off by those cliffs, with treasures within, I told Alec’s ninja girl avatar. Sand crystals…and more.
I would like you to explore the cave and find the treasure within it. Alec looked up at me and pumped his finger in his coiled opposite hand.
“You kids could just have sex for real,” Firian said.
“But then you would leave,” Alec said, as Firian quietly moved over to him to accept his head scratches with a resigned expression. “I know you don’t really like spending your whole life in Etherium.”
“Don’t be nice to me,” Firian growled. “Grumpiness is the only shield I have.”
Alec just kept scratching his ears. Firian melted a little. I melted more. I had to resist mentioning how cute they were together because I understood why this would piss Firian off. If I got turned into like, a kitten, and instead of having a romantic and sex life I just got ear scratches, I would be infuriated.
And I missed my Firian. The real Firian.
But still.
Outside, I heard a car door shut and I jumped off the bed. So did Alec. Cars came rarely. In the middle of the night?
We looked out the window. Daisy stepped out of the car. Piers rushed out to meet her and take her bags from the chauffeur. He was talking to Daisy while she stood stiffly with her arms crossed. He waved her forward toward the path to his house, which used to be Master Blair’s house. She stayed put. He walked closer to her and said something that finally made her budge, but I could see that she didn’t really want to go off alone with him.
“I need to see if Daisy’s okay.”
“And attract Piers’ attention?” Alec said. “I’m sure Daisy can take care of herself… She’s a powerful witch.”
“Daisy looks scared.” I snatched my coat. Alec followed, of course, but I outran him. I hadn’t heard from Daisy all summer and I was so worried Piers could hurt her. I definitely wouldn’t want to be engaged to him, especially after what Harris said about how he wanted to marry Daisy years ago.
I was gasping from running by the time I reached the house. I couldn’t make in time before he got her in the house, but lights glowed from the parlor window. I pulled on the old doorbell and it made a solid clang.
I heard voices inside. Piers sounded like he wanted to ignore me. Daisy flung open the door, a little breathless herself.
“Girl, hey!” she gasped, throwing on a smile that looked fake as hell. “You’re awake?”
“Yeah! Studying late, you know.” I gave her a hug. “I saw you come in.”
“It’s late, I know. Traffic back in Indianapolis on the way, and then roadwork…” As always, Daisy looked hot and put together. She was wearing a pink coat dress and black boots with blingy, jeweled earrings. She also had dark circles under her eyes and couldn’t quite hide her fear. When I pulled back from the hug, she clutched my arm a little before letting go.
“Are you two close?” Piers asked, coming up behind her, dressed in a three piece suit at one o’clock in the morning.
“Yeah,” Daisy said, turning her fake smile to him. “Charlotte’s crew and me, yeah, we’re tight. I’d do anything for this girl. Anything.”
This sounded like a cry for help. “Same,” I said, and Daisy’s eyes darted ever so briefly to me.
“Oh, well…I’m glad you already have a friend here,” Piers said coolly.
“What are y’all up to now?” I asked. “Are you attending school?”
“No,” Piers said. “Daisy is done with her education now. She will stay in guest housing until we marry in the summer.”
“So you’re just chilling?” I asked Daisy.
“I wish,” she whispered.
“I have some business for her,” Piers said. “She will be the diviner soon, and those abilities are needed now. But…you will see her around, I’m sure.” He put a hand on Daisy’s shoulder.
“We could escort her to guest housing,” Alec said behind me. “It’s late. I’m sure she needs some sleep. And you aren’t married yet; man, wouldn’t want rumors getting back to an old-fashioned witch like Madame Pendleton.”
Piers dropped the hand from Daisy’s shoulder and I saw her tiny shudder of relief. “Then, we shall talk in the morning, my dear, and for now, I’ll dream of you,” he said, taking her hand and kissing it.
I grabbed Daisy’s hand and got her away from him as fast as I could.
“That was so close,” Daisy said, as soon as he shut the door behind us. “Feel my arm. I am like head to toe do-not-even-touch-me goosebumps. Did you hear this story, Char? Did you hear this shit? He just swooped in on my grandmother and promised all this stuff to her about how he would take care of me and love me forever and ensure that my duties were not ‘painful’ and she believed every word of it. She’s old enough to get played. I bet if my mom was still around she’d be smarter than that. But Grandmother just wants—you know.” She swallowed. “She’s worried about me. I don’t even know what I’ll do. I’m—I’m—” She started sniffing a little and took a deep breath. “Oh god. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I don’t blame you for freaking out.” I looked back at the house. The downstairs light was off now, replaced by an upstairs light, and just the thought of Piers going to bed thinking about Daisy made me want to punch him in the face. “But—don’t worry. We have a lot of plans in motion.”
“Yeah?”
“We’re starting to figure out that there have been warlocks here with a connection to Wyrd since Merlin College began,” I said.
“Wyrd? You mean the so-called Third Realm? I thought that was a legend.”
“I guess we need to back up,” Alec said. “Wyrd is real. It’s been controlled by the faeries. And Professor Jablonsky is a faery lord from Wyrd. He says we might be able to get an in. And if we did…”
“What?” Daisy said.
“We’re not beholden to the council anymore,” Alec said. “They can’t threaten us with banishment to Sinistral if we break the rules.”
“Oh.”
“I met the ghost of a guy who used to talk to the faeries,” I said. “And I’m getting better at talking to the dead. Stuart says the faeries are antisocial, but that if we defeat the Withered Lord, they might give us an audience. He says they’re dying out because they’ve stayed secret, so at some point they talk to us or they die.”
“So that’s your plan,” Daisy said. “I mean—that’s awesome. That’s great for you. You can do your own thing and—”
“Witches can learn warlock magic,” I said. “We can smash the patriarchy and make our own rules and stuff.” She didn’t seem enthused and I started to feel
stupid. “I mean—I know. It sounds naive, but Stuart believes in it, and so did Master Blair and Samuel, and my mom, so it’s not just me getting caught up in a college thing. They’re old. There must be something to it, or they wouldn’t pursue the goal for fifty years.”
“It’s not that,” Daisy said. “It’s just…even if what you say is true, it won’t matter for me. I have the blood of the diviners. Everyone wants that power and I can’t not have it. Ethereals, Sinistrals, Wyrd…people. They’re all going to want it, because the great diviners are the ones who can see where the battle should be fought. Where the parallels and gateways still exist, where the enemy is hiding. Everyone needs me. Piers is ready to use me already. It’s even worse than I thought, ‘cause Grandmother is still alive and he’s already putting me to work. What can I say? I don’t see any way out. I thought my only chance was to go off with someone totally rogue like those vampires, but it seems that Harris is right. Cash would die. So that’s—not an option. I feel so stuck, Charlotte. I’m so scared. I never wanted this. It’s finally here. I can’t talk my way out of it. People say having power is great? No. It’s not. It makes you powerless. Everyone wants you. I could have gold, diamonds, servants, whatever, but I don’t get any freedom. None. Never.”
I could see that Daisy needed a serious intervention.
“You will get freedom,” I said. “There is a way out of this and it doesn’t have to be with the vampires. Just because you can’t see it yet doesn’t mean it’s not there. We’re going to make it happen, okay? What would people on Bravo do?”
“People on Bravo don’t take shit.”
“Would drag queens and real housewives put up with this?”
“Being a sassy bitch is pretty much all that happens on Bravo,” Daisy said, nodding.
“Exactly. You’re the sassiest bitch I’ve ever met. And we’re all here together. Deep breath.”
Harris and Montague were running toward us at this point.
“Daisy?” Harris said. “Did Piers hurt you?”
She was finishing her deep breath. “No. He didn’t. And he won’t. My girl Charlotte talked me down, and I’m going to assist you in whatever phase two of this plan is.”
A Witch Among Warlocks: The Complete Series Box Set Page 61
