Shadow Magic: Year 3

by Alexa B. James

  “Well, sorry, no one ever told me,” I say as we step into my room.

  Thorn glances up and down the hall before stepping in and closing the door. “I’m not supposed to know this until I’m a member of the Society of Supernaturals, so don’t tell anyone,” he says, his voice barely above a whisper.

  I nod eagerly.

  “Itzel Ocelot is the High Priestess,” he says.

  “But… She’s famous,” I say. “And everyone in the world knows who her husband is. He’s mega-famous.”

  Famous for making Kitty Chasers and America’s Next Top Vampire and several of my other favorite trash TV shows. Not to mention he’s famous in his own rite for being rich as fuck and just as hot, with a wild fashion sense.

  Okay, so not exactly what I was expecting from the revered High Priestess before me. I guess some part of me imagined a sorceress hidden in a cave somewhere performing fertility rituals for barren women who made pilgrimages over miles of dirt paths—or something equally ridiculous. Everyone made it sound like I’d have to hide away for having this power, not live in the middle of supernatural society, only hiding the fact that I have this magic.

  Thorn nods. “But the world doesn’t know she’s the High Priestess. Which makes our costume even more perfect. Everyone will know who we are, but no one will know that you’re also dressed up as… You. Kind of. But only we know the second, secret reason behind it.”

  He looks so excited I can’t help but smile back. “You should have started with that,” I say. “If you’d told me I just have to rock some badass black leather, I’d have been a lot more receptive to wearing a couple’s costume.”

  “I look forward to seeing that,” Thorn says, smiling down at me. “Although for future reference, I’m not opposed to the cross-dressing idea, either. Especially if you bring your whip.”

  “Thorn,” I admonish, wrapping my arms around his neck and returning his smile. “That’s awfully kinky of you. Are you sure you’re a virgin?”

  “Being a virgin doesn’t preclude having an active imagination,” he says.

  “It’s the romance novels,” I say. “They’ve corrupted you. You’re a total deviant.”

  “I’ve seen you swing that whip,” Thorn murmurs, leaning down to brush his nose across mine. “Don’t pretend you haven’t thought about using it on a real person.”

  I remember my encounter with Ryker, and something funny twists inside me.

  Thorn pulls back, concern in his eyes. “I was joking, Jade,” he says quickly. “I don’t think you’d want to hurt anyone. I didn’t mean to… Shit. This is why I keep my mouth shut.”

  He starts to pull away, but I tighten my grip. “Thorn, no,” I say. “You didn’t say anything wrong. I’m sorry. I know you were teasing, and I love it when you talk to me. It’s not that.”

  “What is it?” he asks, his emerald eyes searching mine.

  “Nothing,” I say. “It’s me. You’re fine. I promise.”

  He doesn’t look convinced. “I’d better get to my post.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say. “I was just thinking about using the whip in Ryker’s class, which made me think about what a dick he is, and that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive him.”

  Thorn nods slowly. “Because he was with Bella?”

  “Yeah,” I say, pulling away and slumping onto the edge of the bed. “All the Bellas.”

  “So was Rocco,” Thorn points out. “You forgave him.”

  “That’s different,” I say. “First off, he was enchanted. And once he wasn’t, he never did it again. And after I told him I liked him…”

  Thorn clears his throat. “Your magic does make it hard to be celibate,” he says. “Ryker’s around you a lot, Jade. If you blast him with your magic and then he’s left with it… I’m not saying it’s an excuse. Just that to him, it’s no different from going to get a sandwich when he’s hungry.”

  “I know.”

  “Okay,” Thorn says, leaning down to kiss my head. “Well, I really do have to get to my post. I’ll be right outside if you want to talk more. And think about what you want to wear for your part of the costume.”

  When he’s gone, I flop back on the bed. Maybe he’s right. My damn magic might be to blame for this. Yes, I have it mostly under control now. But there was definitely a shit-ton of it in the room when Ryker stepped in while Rocco and I were going at it. And how many times has Ryker gotten me off? Every time, he must get blasted with it, and I’ve selfishly never returned the favor. Not that he ever let me. The one time we came close, he got weird about his scars and ran off. If everyone in my classes is fucking like bunnies from just being around me waving a wand, Ryker must be going insane after having his fingers inside me while I came.

  Maybe a person like Thorn can keep his distance and his wits about him, but for someone who’s been in close, sexual contact with me multiple times, it’s different. And he’s not someone who already thought sex was special. Even before me, I’ve been told by multiple people that it means nothing to Ryker. Of course he doesn’t think twice about needing to fuck some rando to get rid of my distracting magic.

  After a while, I sit up and open the laptop the Academy provided. I start researching the other High Priestess, now that I know who she is. Let’s just say the image I had in my head is pretty far from reality. Not a dusty pilgrimage road in sight. Her life looks pretty glam, in fact. Instead, I find a bunch of pictures of a beautiful thirty-something woman surrounded by equally beautiful men. I remember Darius telling me she had multiple lovers, and from the pictures, he wasn’t kidding. I know shifters have different customs and rules, so I don’t know if that’s the norm for her people, but I have to say, it makes me feel better about my attraction to four men. Maybe this magic doesn’t have to turn me into some freakshow curiosity.

  Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! Let us present to you—The Incredible, the Insatiable, the Unstoppable SEX Lady!

  I fall down a rabbit hole of research for a while, then switch over to a new tab and hesitate. After a minute, I decide just to look it up. He told me to. He said everyone already knew. So why shouldn’t I know, too?

  I type in “Ryker Steele” in the search bar and read about his parents, an upwardly mobile witch-and-wizard couple who weren’t above shady tactics in their social climbing quest. I’m surprised Bella’s not after him. His family sounds like the same type as hers. Apparently they just couldn’t wait to see how much they could leverage their son’s magic, so they went ahead and had someone unlock it before he was eighteen, which isn’t in itself dangerous—if a sorcerer who knows what he’s doing does it. But that’s not the kind of person who can be hired to illegally unlock a child’s magic.

  I click out of the page, feeling guilty and sick by what I found. He told me what happened, but reading the details is worse. No wonder he’s such a dick.

  Speaking of… The next thing I know, I’ve gone down a completely different rabbit hole, and I’m suddenly looking at the world’s biggest penises. Wow, how do some of these men even walk!? Apparently there’s a dragon shifter somewhere with a two-foot penis. I mean, I enjoy a big cock as much as the next girl, but that’s twelve inches just going to waste. Maybe the penis gods should have spread that shit around, giving half a dozen other guys an inch or two instead of putting it all on one dragon.

  Someone on one of my reality shows mentioned that one kind of dragon was rumored to have two dicks, but maybe this is what they meant—that he has two dick’s worth of dick. Looks more like three dick’s worth to me. Unless that thing can bend in half, or he’s fucking his lady while she’s in dragon form, he couldn’t even get it all the way in someone.

  A knock on the door startles me, and I slam my laptop and jump back like I just got caught doing something like… Ogling a two-foot penis.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Hey, girl,” Asher says, marching into the room with Elowen in tow. He glances around. “What are you up to?”

  “Oh, I wa
s just doing a little research,” I say nonchalantly. “You?”

  Asher gives me a doubtful look but doesn’t press it. “We’re going to the Halloween dance together,” he says. “We thought we could do some kind of group costume.”

  “Is that a thing here?” I ask, rolling my eyes. Not that I have a lot of experience with Halloween parties, but when I have dressed up for the holiday, it’s always been a do-your-own-thing affair.

  “Of course,” Asher says. “That’s what friends do. So no one feels left out.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say, feeling suddenly guilty. “I already have a costume picked out. I’m going with Thorn.”

  “Ohhh,” Asher says, wiggling his pierced eyebrows meaningfully at me. “So, is that finally happening?”

  “Maybe,” I say, biting back a smile. I feel so giddy and silly about Thorn. The anticipation is killing me, but it’s also exciting. He’s worth the wait, however long it takes. He has to trust that I’m in control of my magic and it’s not going to make him do something he wouldn’t want to do without its influence. I love what we have now, but I admit, if he said he was ready, I’d be all over that in a second.

  “Really?” Elowen whispers, her eyes bugging. “You’re sleeping with two guys?”

  “Well, not yet,” I say. “But I think I have two boyfriends.”

  “Lame,” Asher says, dropping onto my bed. “You shouldn’t be able to call yourself the High Priestess until you’re being gang-banged on the nightly.”

  “Asher,” I scold, throwing a pillow at him.

  He ducks, laughing, and catches it. “What? I’m just saying. You’re pretty prudy for a priestess.”

  “Oh, and you’ve had so many orgies,” I say, rolling my eyes.

  “Not so many,” he admits. “I’m only nineteen. Give it time. But I was there at your Unleashing.”

  “You had sex at my Unleashing?”

  “Jade, honey, like fifty percent of the people on this campus had sex at your Unleashing. Just because you went backstage and had an intervention, that doesn’t mean the rest of us weren’t wallowing in debauchery.”

  “You had an orgy?” I ask, planting a hand on my hip. “With who?”

  “Like, half the wizards in the freshman class,” he says. “All the wizards and light witches who’d been Unleashed were all gathered in one place. I think I even had my dick inside a girl at one point.”

  “Oh my god,” I say, covering my face. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Girl, don’t be sorry,” he says. “Did you hear me complaining? I checked like five things off my sex bucket list that day.”

  “You have a sex bucket list?” I ask incredulously.

  “Of course,” he says, like everyone has one of these. “Granted, it was kind of awkward last year, but this year, it’s become a joke at the school of wizardry. Like ‘Remember freshman orientation? Wink, wink.’ Or ‘The freshman activities this year just aren’t the same.’ Or my personal favorite, ‘Why isn’t there a spit roast at the freshman mixer this year?’ It’s hard not to feel a certain bond with a bunch of people who’ve all swapped bodily fluids with each other.”

  “Um, happy I could help, I guess?” I say, not sure how to feel about that. I mean, I knew a lot of people had hooked up during the Unleashing, but Asher never said anything about it. Despite his love of gossip, he’s discrete when it comes to his own affairs. Speaking of…

  “So, you’re going to the Halloween party with Elowen?” I ask. “Not your secret lover?”

  “Well, it wouldn’t be a secret if I was taking him to the party, now would it?” Asher says with a grin. To be honest, I’m a tiny bit relieved to hear him talking and smiling about his lover. A small part of me was afraid maybe he was seeing Topher, but obviously that wasn’t the case. I should have known he’d never do something like that to Elowen, even if she did it to him. But love makes people do crazy things sometimes.

  “So, now we just need to find a costume idea,” Asher says, stepping around me and opening my laptop before I can stop him.

  With a squeak, I lunge for it, trying to slam it closed. But Asher turns away, fending me off with one long arm and holding the laptop out with the other. “Jade Silva,” he squeals in delight. “I am surprised at you!”

  “Give me that,” I say, my face flaming as I swipe for it again.

  “Elowen, have you ever seen something so obscene?” he asks, laughing hysterically while turning the screen toward our friend, whose eyes just about pop out of her head.

  “I’m going to kill you,” I mutter, jumping for it now. Asher’s arms are freakishly long, and he holds it overhead, too busy tormenting me to hear my threats.

  “Can you imagine this dick inside you? It would literally gut you.”

  “Stop,” I wail, covering my face. “I told you I was researching!”

  Just when I think I can’t get any more humiliated, the door swings open, and Thorn sticks his head in, his brow furrowed with concern. “Is everything okay, Jade?”

  “Do you know what your girlfriend is looking at while you’re innocently standing guard?” Asher asks, just about doubling over with hiccups of laughter.

  “Don’t you dare,” I howl, leaping onto his back. The laptop tips out of his hand, tumbling toward the floor.

  Thorn swipes it out of the air and rights it, frowning down at the screen. The humiliation is too much. All I can do is hide my face in Asher’s back and let out a wordless sound that is somewhere between a shriek and a sob.

  “Well,” Thorn says after a minute. “I have to say, that’s quite impressive. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

  “Oh my god,” I moan into Asher’s shirt, unable to even look at my boyfriend right now.

  “Don’t be embarrassed,” Asher says, wiping his eyes before reaching back to pat my leg. “I love it. I knew there must be some freaky shit hidden somewhere in the recesses of your mind. It’s not natural to be that prudish—especially when you have sex magic.”

  “I hate you,” I mumble. “I literally hate you.”

  “Seriously, though,” Asher says, moving over to stare at the pictures with Thorn. “If a dude stuck this inside you, he’d be fucking you and getting a blowjob at the same time—when it came out your throat!”

  “I think he could give himself all the blowjobs he wanted,” Thorn says.

  “I’m never talking to you again,” I say.

  “This is like extreme shit,” Thorn says, sounding actually impressed. “I wonder how he manages to wear pants.”

  “Maybe it sucks back in,” Asher says, giggling. “Like one of those measuring tapes.”

  “Or maybe he just wraps it around, like a belt,” Thorn says.

  “He’s a dragon, so maybe it coils up like a snake,” Asher says. “And he has a little pouch instead of regular underwear.”

  “Like a purse,” Elowen says, giggling.

  “Gives new meaning to the term dick-bag,” Thorn says.

  “Please stop,” I beg. “Can you all just leave and pretend you never saw that?”

  “Oh, hell no,” Asher says.

  “I don’t think I can ever forget that,” Thorn agrees, handing over the laptop. “It’s burned into my brain forever.”

  “It’s like that story that made the rounds a few years ago,” Asher says. “About that dude who stuck his whole head in some chick’s twat while making homemade porn.”

  “Wait, that guy who got stuck?” Thorn asks, like we’re just going to stand here and discuss freaky porn as if it’s no different from what happened on last week’s episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Furry.

  “Yes,” Asher crows, clapping his hands together. “And he smothered!”

  “Guess he went out of the world the same way he came in,” Thorn says.

  Even I can’t help laughing, even though I’m pretty sure I’ve never been so humiliated in my entire life combined. “You guys are all the worst,” I say, yanking the laptop away and slamming it shut.

  “
Weren’t you making fun of me for liking costume parties?” Thorn asks, looking like he’s trying too damn hard not to laugh. “I think you called me a sexual deviant?”

  “Takes one to know one,” Asher says, wiggling his brows at me.

  “I guess I’ve got my work cut out for me,” Thorn says. “Anyone know where I can get a two-foot-long strap-on?”

  “Would that really fit inside you?” Elowen asks, gaping at me.

  I drop my laptop on my desk and plant a hand on my hip. “Yes, you guys. I’m the sex goddess, and therefore, there’s nothing inside me but a giant vagina that goes from one end of me to the other.”

  “Jade, we’re kidding with you,” Asher says.

  “Totally kidding,” Thorn says. “We’re just giving you a hard time. You have to admit, you’d do the same if you found something like that on one of our laptops.”

  Before I can answer, a knock on the door draws our attention. Rocco’s head pops in, his gaze sweeping the group. “Damn,” he says. “Looks like a party in here. Did I miss the invite?”

  “No party,” I say quickly, rushing over to steer him out into the hall before anyone can embarrass me further.

  “What’s going on?” he asks suspiciously.

  “We’re just hanging out,” I say.

  “Thorn hangs out with your friends?” he asks, looking a little bit wounded.

  “Well, yeah,” I say. “I mean, you’ve hung out with me and Asher before, too.”

  “Yeah, but not the necromancy chick,” he says with a scowl.

  I roll my eyes. “It might help if you called her by her name,” I point out. “And if you don’t hang out with her, it’s because you don’t want to. It’s a new development for Thorn, too.”

  “Then introduce us,” Rocco says, crossing his arms and frowning down at me.

  “I thought you didn’t like her because she’s a necromancer,” I challenge.

  “I don’t like her because she stole Cleo, and you blamed it on us,” he says. “But if you can forgive her, she must have something good going for her.”