by Emma Dean
Wicked Blood
University of Morgana: Academy of Enchantments and Witchcraft
Emma Dean
WICKED BLOOD
UNIVERSITY OF MORGANA
ACADEMY OF WITCHCRAFT
AND ENCHANTMENTS
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Copyright © 2019 by Emma Dean
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, locations, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Contents
Author’s Note
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
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Other Books
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About the Author
Author’s Note
All of my paranormal books exist in the same universe. The more you read the more you see familiar faces. You don’t need to read them in any particular order, or to know any others before starting any of my series or standalones.
This series heavily features Kenzie and her foxes from the Chaos of Foxes series, but there is nothing from that series that is absolutely essential to read this one. The world-building has all been explained, but if you want insight into the relationships I’d advise reading it.
Last but not least, this is a slow burn reverse harem series.
Don’t forget to share and review and recommend your favorite books.
<3 Emma
I have a rendezvous with Death
At some disputed barricade,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade
And apple-blossoms fill the air—
- Alan Seeger
Wicked Blood
1
The greenhouse was hot and humid and unbearable in the middle of the day. Mika had taken to gardening at night instead. After months of neglect there had been a mountain of work, but finally the plants were thriving again.
She’d done interviews and found a gardener she thought she could trust. The witch wasn’t high society either. Mika had specifically sent her request to normal human hiring agencies with the spelled Council of Paranormals insignia on the top right corner.
Those who needed to know would see it, and humans would not. Or so Ethan had told her.
There was a whole system out there for paranormals to find each other and Mika thought it was absolutely the best thing ever. She didn’t have to work with people she knew – none of them were good enough for what she needed anyway.
Callie was supposed to start next week. Mika planned to spend a whole month training her to do exactly what Mika did.
Then there was the moon garden she’d started that would need to be kept up – but those plants were outside where she’d renovated. The mother plants were kept in the greenhouse in the new section she’d created.
Mika had done everything she could to distract herself from the loneliness. She’d known it was going to be bad, but she hadn’t quite expected it to be this bad. Yes, she had Audrey. And between her and the greenhouse she’d been so busy she fell asleep during her video chats with Ethan and Lucien.
She hadn’t heard from Corbin since that day in the forest.
And the blackthorn hadn’t seen him either, or anything suspicious.
Mika glanced at the cutting of the tree in the special pot she’d purchased for it. One day she would plant it wherever she decided to settle down, perhaps planting more than one to create a network.
“Knock knock!” Audrey called out.
Mika shot up and went to open the doors for Audrey – the witch who was more a sister to her than Claire had ever been.
“I put this together from what the housekeeper left in the fridge,” Audrey told her, setting the tray of food on the nearest table – cleared now after weeks of chaos. “It’s so weird to have a housekeeper. I’m still not used to it.”
Mika chuckled as she grabbed one of the sandwiches. “How goes the house by the way?”
Her best friend had been a complete lifesaver this summer. Mika didn’t know what she would have done without her.
“As usual Claire pretends that I don’t exist,” Audrey said with a shrug, picking up a pickle slice. “I used to feel shitty about it, but she does it to you too.”
Ever since she’d gotten back home Claire had been a giant pain in the ass – and as Audrey said, she pretended like they didn’t exist most of the time. Only during dinner did she deign to speak to Mika, and even then, it was just about the family business, the projects they had to work on thanks to everyone in their family either being shunned or dead.
And for weeks, the only thing Claire wanted to know was when Mika would be ready to perform the ritual to crown her matriarch. Of course, she’d given her vague responses and as a result Claire was giving her the silent treatment.
“It’s because she’s pissed at me,” Mika explained, sitting down on one of the stools. “She wants that title.”
Audrey watched her eat and Mika knew what she was going to ask before she even said the words. “Why haven’t you agreed to a time?”
“Remember how I told you about that glimpse into the past?” Mika asked. “How the blackthorn shared with me the moment the first seal to hell was opened and the blood witches on Morgana’s island were slaughtered?”
“The blood stones right?” Audrey crunched into the pickle. “How they housed the creatures, or monsters, or whatever?”
Mika nodded, tapping her nails on the wooden table. She hadn’t been able to figure out how to open hers, and a large part of her didn’t even want to. How would she control whatever came out of those stones?
Her blood didn’t unlock them either. There had to be a spell or something and Mika just hadn’t found it yet despite turning their family home upside down. She’d gone through every book in the library and still nothing.
There had to be something else.
“I don’t think Claire is meant to lead our clan,” Mika finally admitted, taking a big bite out of the chicken salad sandwich – simple yet delicious with a nice crunch thanks to the sliced cucumbers.
“How does that work?” Audrey glanced up when some of the automated sprinklers went off in a different part of the greenhouse. “Wasn’t she named heir?”
Mika grinned viciously. “Yes, but witches have always loved a bit of drama. If someone within the clan believes they are stronger, they are allowed to call for a challenge.”
“Isn’t that what Selene Kavanagh promised to do if Takahashi didn’t step down as High Priestess of Bay Coven?”
Pushing the plate back, Mika nodded. “Precisely. It works at all levels of witch politics. The idea is that the strongest always leads us – because who else could protect us better
?”
“Interesting perspective,” Audrey said doubtfully, drumming her fingers on the worktable as she chewed on her lip. “Sounds problematic though, and for some reason a challenge hasn’t been made for a few hundred years?”
It was all complex and bothersome, but Mika had her suspicions. “Yeah, right around when witches started marrying into monogamous relationships.”
They sat in silence together, both sweating thanks to the settings inside the greenhouse as they contemplated the tenuous future.
“So, I picked out my fall classes,” Audrey said, changing the subject. “Have you picked yours?”
“Have you decided if you’re going to take me up on my offer?” Mika asked casually, rearranging the items on the tray.
Audrey blushed and looked away. “It’s kind of a lot to take in. But, I’m so incredibly flattered.”
It was hard not to smile. “It’s just a bit of paperwork.”
“Don’t you need Claire’s approval to bring me into the clan?” Audrey hedged. “I’m not blood either – doesn’t that mess up…stuff?”
Mika took a sip of the iced lavender lemonade Audrey had brought out – delicious as always. “I won’t need her permission if she doesn’t become matriarch. And honestly, blood doesn’t always matter. Males don’t share our blood and we still allow them in.”
Audrey snorted at that. “I suppose that’s true. My offspring could always have Marshall DNA.”
The silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable. Audrey sipped on her glass of purple lemonade and Mika wiped at the sweat on her brow. It was almost dinner. Another round with Claire sounded exhausting.
She had to make her decision soon – procrastinating would only piss her sister off more. There was no real relationship to salvage. Now that Mika knew what it was like to have someone truly supportive in her life, she saw how clearly she and Claire had never had the kind of relationship she had with Audrey.
Mika didn’t necessarily want to rule as matriarch…she just didn’t want Claire to rule.
But there was no one else.
What would Claire do as matriarch when she found out Mika was a blood witch? Would she cast her out? Would she call for her to be shunned when Mika needed the support from her matriarch most?
The safest way to ensure she had a voice was to claim a position of power – even if she didn’t want it.
Mika tapped her nails on the wood.
Click, click, click, click.
“Have you heard from Malachi?” she asked instead.
Weeks and nothing from him.
Audrey set her drink down with a sigh. “Only the once. He told me he was back home with his mom and working at the casino with her. Apparently he got a job as a slot machine maintenance guy. He’s going back to Morgana for the battle magic dodgeball summer training, but that’s all I know.”
Maybe Mika should call him in a week or so, see how he was doing.
“So what classes did you pick?” Mika asked, draining the lavender lemonade and putting the glass back on the tray.
“Advanced Latin II, Enchantments for the Modern Witch, The History of Demonology, and Enchanting Inanimate Objects in Multiple Forms. I want to learn how to enchant tattoo ink like that witch up in Canada that Hunter told us about.” Audrey took another bite of her sandwich as she eyed the blackthorn cutting in the corner.
“You would make good money,” Mika admitted. “Enchanting ink and effectively stitching the spells into skin isn’t easy. And the one Hunter has is bonded to him so it works in his human and fox form.”
Audrey nodded and wiped her hands on the napkin. “So what are you taking?”
Mika glanced back at the blackthorn. “Every class on hell Morgana has, and Hunting for Witches. They won’t have the battle magic in our books, but it would be good to learn anyway.”
Audrey laughed. “Planning on a trip to hell?”
She didn’t smile. When the prince of hell had you on his radar and a secret society called the Hellfire Society tried to open the seals to hell from earth, it was a good idea to know everything she could.
“No plans,” Mika murmured. “But it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”
She would have to ask Hunter on Friday how he got in and out of hell. And why Lucifer hated him so much.
2
Mika rolled down her window and entered in the code for the Kavanagh mansion’s front gate. She needed to talk to Selene about Claire and get her advice.
“I love how Kenzie has her own house, but it’s connected to the family mansion,” Audrey said, peering out the other window as Chuck pulled forward.
“It’s definitely different,” Mika admitted, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Witch clans didn’t usually separate from the main family like this, but Mika also didn’t blame Kenzie after everything that had happened to her.
Selene came out of the house before the car had even stopped. She smiled and waved, as polite and friendly as she always was. Mika, Kenzie, and their Grandma Edith were probably the only people in the world who knew exactly how ruthless and brutal Selene could be when she wanted to be, or when she needed to be.
“Your text sounded urgent, is everything okay?” Selene asked, opening Mika’s door before Chuck could get there, making the squirrel shifter all flustered.
That was another reason Mika had always gotten along so well with Selene – she wasn’t the typical high society witch despite the outward appearance of conforming.
Mika got out of the car and thanked Chuck while she waited for Audrey to get out. She’d wanted to talk to Selene before she had to deal with Claire at dinner. So she’d texted, and then cleaned up while Audrey put away the tray.
Claire could not be matriarch.
It was too much of a risk.
And with everything that was happening, Mika knew their world was shifting. Something was going to change their entire world, even if she didn’t really know what it was.
They needed to be strong and united. An alliance with the Kavanagh clan was the best move they could make, and who knew what Claire felt about that. But Mika wasn’t about to take her sister on without help and support from the strongest clan within their coven.
Her sister would ask about the ritual again at dinner, and Mika needed to have an answer this time before Claire found another way to get that title.
“Everything is fine,” Mika told Selene. “I just need some advice. Is Kenzie here?”
The void witch wasn’t registered with the Bay Coven. She was unaligned – so getting her backing as well would add to Mika’s claim and challenge.
After taking out a fae and a god, no one wanted to mess with the void witch.
“It’s Sunday, so she’s training with Eisheth, but I assume they will both be happy to see you,” Selene said with that small smile of hers. “And how do you like high society?” she asked Audrey.
Audrey shrugged as they fell in step, heading toward the second, smaller house, but no less lavish as Chuck left to his second destination. “It’s weird. And Claire is a bitch.”
Mika snorted. She couldn’t argue with that.
“I have a feeling your visit has something to do with Claire?” Selene asked carefully, a slight shred of her matriarch persona came through just then.
Nodding, Mika let Selene go ahead of her so she could open the front door to Kenzie’s house. It felt strange not to knock – especially with how possessive and territorial she knew the foxes were.
“Hunter!” Selene called.
Mika winced. She’d been hoping to avoid the chaos if at all possible.
And just like that he appeared around the corner, hands in his pockets like he’d been expecting them. “Selene, Mika, Audrey, it’s nice to see you. What can I do for you?”
Selene looked to Mika. After all, she was the one who had something to say.
Mika cleared her throat and glanced at Audrey who gave her an encouraging nod. “I need advice, and depending on how the conversation goes I may
need help.”
Hunter’s eyes narrowed. He’d been by the Marshall mansion just the other day and she hadn’t said anything. But honestly, she hadn’t planned to do anything until talking to Audrey that morning.
“Well, Eisheth is here. They’re outside as usual. I’ll fetch Ash and Finnick.” The alpha fox disappeared back up the stairs and Mika wondered what the foxes would have to say about her plans.
She wasn’t about to try and tell Hunter they weren’t invited to this discussion. Thankfully the foxes had never been bothered by her blood magic. They’d taken it in stride just like they did with everything else.
Mika rubbed her sweaty hands on her shorts and hoped this would all go smoothly. If Kenzie or Selene didn’t back her, then there would be a chance Takahashi could deny her claim for her own reasons.
As they walked through the house toward the large backyard that had just recently been finished, Mika could barely concentrate as her magic perked up at the adrenaline running through her veins.
But it was just nerves and Mika’s control was nearly perfect now. Sheer, unbridled panic was just about the only time she lost control. Mika assumed there might be other intense emotions where she’d have to fight to control her magic, but practicing all spring and constantly over the last month had really helped.
She finally had her life back.
Now when she touched someone her dislike was due to the contact, not the fear she would kill them.
