by Sadie Moss
Hunt
Academy of Unpredictable Magic #5
Sadie Moss
Copyright © 2019 by Sadie Moss
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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Contents
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
Also by Sadie Moss
Chapter 1
I’m sitting in a very uncomfortable wing-backed chair, smoothing out the skirt of my dress.
Waiting.
The door opens, and I jump to my feet. It’s a small room, not exactly conducive to pacing, which is why I made myself sit down instead of wearing a fucking hole in the carpet.
Dmitri steps in, closing the door behind him, and walks over. He reaches out—and then stops himself, forcing his hand back to his side, as if even in here, people might be watching.
He’s wearing a tuxedo that’s been perfectly tailored to fit him, and God, he looks so fucking handsome. What would normally make me swoon though? Right now, it’s breaking my heart.
Because of the reason he’s wearing it.
“You look…” Dmitri stares at me for a moment. “You look beautiful. You’re in a dress.”
I give a small laugh, trying not to let my throat close up and choke me. “Well, I thought—it seemed appropriate for the occasion.”
He gives a small, bittersweet smile. “It is.”
I won’t lie, it’s been a rough summer all around. Rumor has it that Griffin Academy might not reopen, since the cleanup process from the massive battle at the end of last semester isn’t complete yet.
I need to start my third year. If I don’t finish it and complete my exams, I can’t get the qualifications that say I’m allowed to use magic, which means I’ll have no place in magical society. All the Unpredictables in my class will be without a way to prove they received the mandatory magical training. We’ll be screwed.
Like I said, it’s been real fun.
And as if that wasn’t throwing my life into enough chaos, there’s also… this.
Dmitri’s wedding.
At four o’clock p.m., just twenty minutes from now, Dmitri Mikhailov is slated to marry Anastasia Cabot in front of nearly five hundred guests—all important figures in the magical community.
We’ve been dreading it all summer, counting down the days to this fateful moment like a clock counting down the seconds until doomsday.
The one silver lining, if you want to call it that, is that Dmitri hasn’t had to plan jack shit for this event. The bride, his “betrothed”, has been allowed to choose some aspects of the wedding, but mostly it’s been the two sets of parents picking everything out.
It’s supposedly the bride’s special day, which means she at least got to pick out her dress and flower arrangements and such. But I know for a fact the guest list was curated by the parents.
And I am most definitely not on that list.
Not even Asher, one of my other boyfriends, is invited, and he’s from an important and powerful magical family. I think one of his many brothers is invited—he works in magical law enforcement or something—but Asher himself isn’t important enough to qualify.
Since he’s had no say in anything, Dmitri’s just had to sit around all summer waiting as this day drew closer and closer. None of us know why the date was moved up. It could be because of Dmitri’s own behavior, or it could be because the water’s getting hot for Unpredictables and his parents want him married off so that his “weird” power isn’t such a liability, or maybe they just want to move things along before the bride’s family can change their minds.
Who even knows?
“How are you feeling?” I ask, even though I know it’s a stupid question. Dmitri doesn’t want to do this. He hates everything about this arranged marriage. He hates what his father is making him do. But he also doesn’t see any other way out.
“Like shit,” he replies, the corner of his mouth lifting up.
We’re standing so close that I could just reach out and grab him if I wanted to. And I do want to.
But I can’t.
God, if I could just—just kiss him, over and over and over, his mouth, his jaw, his neck, his forehead, lower, everywhere—
“You don’t have to do this,” I whisper.
My throat is so tight by now that I barely get the words out. I know I’ve said some variation of this plenty of times over the summer. I know I probably shouldn’t be saying it again, knowing that Dmitri made his decision long ago, but with everything else in my life in flux, out of my control… this is the one thing I can try to do something about. This is the one thing I can at least try to have a say in.
But Dmitri just shakes his head.
“I do,” he contradicts, his voice hard like it gets when he’s trying to hide strong emotions. “It’s the only way.”
It hurts my heart to hear him say that, as if someone literally punched me right in the chest, leaving me bruised and winded and breathless.
But at the same time, I understand it.
I don’t know Dmitri’s family. I mean, I’ve met them before—unfortunately—and he’s told me a lot about them. But I don’t know what it’s like to be inside the Mikhailov family. I don’t know what it’s like to have parents that controlling and dominating, who hold their affection and approval up like prizes to be won, instead of giving them freely and openly to their son.
So if Dmitri tells me this is the only way, that his father won’t be swayed no matter how much we might reason or plead with him, then I have to believe that the dark-haired mage knows what he’s talking about.
He knows his father.
And so he knows this is truly the only way.
But God, I hate to see him do this.
“Your tie’s a little crooked,” I murmur, reaching up to fix it.
Dmitri holds still while I do it, lifting his chin up to give me room. My fingertips brush against his warm skin, and fucking hell, I want to grab him and never let go.
I want to protect him from this somehow.
But I can’t. I have to be here for Dmitri, and that means letting him do this.
What he needs right now is support and love. He doesn’t need me to make a big scene and try to talk him out of something I’m sure he’s having plenty of doubts about already. This must be hard as hell for him, and the least I can do is keep my shit together so he doesn’t have to comfort me while hi
s own heart breaks.
So I ignore the burning ache in my chest, forcing my lips into a shape that I hope at least sort of resembles a smile. Then I smooth my hands over his chest to take care of any wrinkles in his tailored tux and step back.
“Good luck out there,” I whisper.
“Thank you, Princess. I’ll need it,” he replies, just as softly, his eyes warm as they gaze at me.
I nod, not trusting myself to say anything else as my throat closes up entirely. Before my arms can latch onto him and refuse to let go, I hurry out of the room.
The little office where I met him is in the back of the church, far away from the gathered guests, and I wend my way through the empty halls at a fast clip, hoping not to run into anyone.
The wedding is being held at the biggest, fanciest church in Portland. I had to sneak into that damn meeting room to see him, and if I don’t get out soon, it’ll only be a matter of time before someone finds me. If it’s someone on his parents’ side of the aisle, I’m sure I’ll be kicked out at best and arrested at worst. They’ll probably charge me with trespassing or some trumped-up crap like that.
Dmitri’s parents don’t know about our romantic relationship, but they’ve met me a couple times now, and they really, really don’t like me.
I think they might suspect how Dmitri feels about me, or maybe it’s just my notoriety as an Unpredictable they don’t like. After saving the school four times now and participating in the Inter-Academy Trials that take place between magic schools as a friendly—or supposedly friendly—competition, I’ve sort of become the face of the Unpredictable movement. For better or for worse.
But whether they think I’d accidentally blow the cathedral up with my wild, out-of-control magic or steal their son away with my seductive charms, I’m positive Dmitri’s parents don’t want me anywhere near this event.
I sneak back out of the cathedral through the small door I entered from. As soon as I step outside, I swear I can feel the building looming behind me. No ordinary, cute neighborhood church would do for this wedding, apparently. Nope, it’s got to be this gorgeous, imposing old cathedral. Because of course it does.
My stomach churns, knotting and re-knotting itself repeatedly as I creep quickly through the large garden to the gate.
As much as I love Dmitri, I’m lucky he isn’t the only person in my life. I have three other men waiting for me right now. And since I can’t be with Dmitri while he does this, I can at least be with them.
I need to be with them.
Roman’s car is parked just around the corner—a sleek, dark silver luxury sports model that fits in perfectly with all the other fancy cars parked around here for the wedding. Roman’s in the driver’s seat, Cam next to him in the passenger seat, and Asher in the back.
I slide in next to Asher, closing the door as Roman and Cam turn around to check on me.
“You okay, Sin?” Cam asks quietly, his blue eyes flashing with concern.
“I should ask you the same thing,” I reply, reaching up to squeeze his shoulder.
Cam and Asher are Dmitri’s best friends, and they weren’t even invited to be in his damn wedding. Not that they want to be a part of this bullshit, but I know they want to be there for Dmitri, just like I do. They want to support their friend, to be a part of this moment in his life, even if it’s a super shitty one.
Being left out, deliberately snubbed by Dmitri’s parents, has to hurt. Especially for Cam. His parents died when he was young, so his friends are the only family he has.
The blond mage shrugs, which speaks volumes to me—Cam is rarely without a witty comment or a joke. His mouth runs faster than a NASCAR race.
Instead of saying anything, he pulls out a little mirror, and my stomach tightens again. Getting into the car with my three other men helped me feel better, but now the anxiety that’s been building up all summer comes rushing back full force.
The mirror is about the size of Cam’s palm, so he can hold it up and we can all watch, almost like showing your friends a video on your cell phone. Earlier today, in the bustle and chaos of the wedding setup, Cam and Asher snuck into the cathedral and enchanted a piece of the stained glass window in the back of the church to act as a “camera” since it was too risky to leave another small mirror lying around, and any kind of glass will do for the enchantment.
I have to admit, when the guys first suggested we watch the wedding remotely, I balked. A part of me doesn’t want to see this. I don’t want to watch someone I care about have to go through something he doesn’t want, especially when I can’t be by his side to fight for him.
But as much as I don’t want to see this—I really do need to be there for Dmitri somehow. I need to support him, in any way I can. And this is as good as it’s going to get.
So I grab Asher’s hand, squeezing hard as we focus on the little screen.
Everyone in the church is settling themselves down in their pews, dressed to the nines. No nearest and dearest for an affair like this, just a who’s who of magical society. I wouldn’t be surprised if my father was somewhere among the attendees.
Ugh.
My dad abandoned us when I was ten and Maddy was six. Our paths recently crossed again, and I got the pleasure of telling him off, which was cathartic and long overdue. In fact, I did such a good job of telling him off that I haven’t heard from him since. I can’t see him on the screen, but honestly, I don’t care all that much anyway. My life’s better without him in it, and so is Maddy’s.
Inside the church, everyone quiets down, and music plays in the background as Dmitri takes his place at the front with the priest and the groomsmen. They’re all handpicked from powerful families, I’m sure, or maybe relatives of Dmitri’s. Or both.
The bridesmaids start walking down the aisle next. They all look lovely, wearing very tasteful dresses; at least they’re not in hideous orange or something.
When the bridesmaids all reach the front, the music changes, and the doors open for the bride to walk in.
I don’t know Anastasia, and I can’t really tell much about her just from looking at her—I mean, who can? But she looks pretty and a little nervous. I feel bad for her. This marriage was arranged on both sides. Her parents pushed her into it just as much as Dmitri’s did with him. She’s been betrothed like an old-fashioned medieval princess since she was crawling around in a diaper.
After what feels like forever, she reaches the front too, and the music dies down. Everyone sits.
The priest starts talking.
“Dearly beloved…”
Cam makes his mouth into a hand and starts making a blah, blah, blah motion. Roman rolls his eyes.
The priest finishes his schtick and turns to Dmitri, giving him the prompt to start going through his vows. “Dmitri Mikhailov, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
Oh, fuck. Here we go.
God, I don’t know if I can watch this after all. My stomach is churning like a turbo-charged washing machine, and I think I might throw up.
Dmitri flicks a glance toward the back of the church, toward the piece of stained glass that’s broadcasting his image back to us, and for a moment, I could swear he’s looking right at me.
A small smile curves his lips, then it’s wiped away by a grim, determined look.
“You know what?” His voice is calm. No, more than calm—it’s decisive. “I don’t think I will.”
And… there it is.
He did it.
In the mirror, he turns to look at everyone. “Sorry you’re all having to bear witness to this, but I kind of needed you all here. And, hey, if you’re going to make a scandal, go big or go home, right?”
Dmitri rarely grins, but when he does, it’s a sight to behold. It’s sexy and dangerous, but it also transforms his face, making him look completely different—softer and younger.
“Can you believe they did this?” he asks, chuckling as he gestures at his parents sitting in the front row. “I mean, they basically sol
d me into wedlock when I was still a baby, and now they’ve organized this farce. It’s kind of hilarious, in a pathetic way. I know you’re all thinking that. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a big wedding guest group chat just to make fun of this bullshit.”
My eyes bug out of my head, and I’m squeezing Asher’s hand so tightly by now his bones are probably about to crack. But that’s okay, because he’s squeezing mine back just as hard.
Holy. Shit.
This isn’t what I was expecting.
Dmitri isn’t just calling off the wedding like he told me he was going to. He’s actively humiliating his parents in front of pretty much all of magical society. Or at least, the parts of magical society his folks care about.
He’s torching his wedding, and his relationship with his parents along with it.
“You know, I can’t believe it took me this long to realize trying to make you happy just isn’t worth it,” Dmitri goes on, turning to face his parents directly. “That the things you want, the things you care about, are shallow and stupid—and that they have never, ever involved my happiness or what I want. For years, I thought if I could just become the son you wanted me to be, maybe everything would change. Maybe then you’d love me. But that ship sailed years before I even found out I was Unpredictable, didn’t it? There was nothing I could’ve done to make you be better parents, because the truth is, you just don’t have it in you. ”
I can’t see Mr. and Mrs. Mikhailov’s faces since they’re facing away from the back of the church, but I can imagine them clearly enough. They must be pissed off and shocked… and I kinda hope someone’s taking a picture of them.
