The Coven's Secret: A Paranormal Academy Witch Romance (Hidden Legends: College of Witchcraft Book 1)

by Alicia Rades

  That a girl.

  “I heard you were sick,” Chloe sneered.

  I shrugged. “I’m always sick. What’s your point?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “You don’t look sick to me.”

  Good Goddess, didn’t this girl have anything better to do than to torment me?

  “If you could tell I was sick, it wouldn’t be called an invisible illness,” I snapped.

  “If you want to be invisible, you might as well just leave Octavia Falls,” she said. “It’s too bad. I’d kind of been hoping that’s what happened to you.”

  I scoffed. “You really think your stupid Halloween prank could scare me away?”

  Her lips tightened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You said the same thing about Verla’s cat,” I reminded her.

  She rolled her eyes. “Okay, maybe I slipped something into his food. But I didn’t do anything on Halloween. I take Halloween very seriously.”

  “Right,” I said sarcastically, dragging the word out. I didn’t believe her. “You would never break the rules. Black magic’s way outside of your comfort zone.”

  Chloe’s gaze darted up and down the hall, as if making sure no one else heard, then she narrowed her eyes at me. “Go die in a ditch, Evers.”

  She whirled around and entered the classroom. I just laughed from behind her, while Isa let out another hiss.

  “That a threat, Chloe?” I called. “Or are you working on casting a curse?”

  She ignored me and pulled her tarot cards out of her bag. She started shuffling through them as I took my seat. She pulled a card from the top and started laughing so loud that the other students stopped talking to look at her. Chloe turned the card toward me and beamed.

  It was the Death card, but I didn’t really care. I knew she’d picked it deliberately to try to freak me out, but I was totally at ease. I pretended I didn’t see it and faced the front of the room. Isa purred in my lap.

  Class continued like normal. We were studying the symbolism in various cards within the suit of Wands, which was all pretty easy to pick up at this point in the semester.

  At the end of class, I waited until everyone else had left, then approached Professor Wykoff.

  “Nadine,” she said brightly. “What can I help you with?”

  “I missed a couple days of class, and I was wondering if there was any makeup work to do,” I said.

  “I noticed you were out of class,” she said solemnly. “Is everything okay?”

  “Fine,” I told her. “Just been feeling a little under the weather.”

  She frowned. “Must’ve been a nasty little bug.”

  I chuckled under my breath, though she didn’t notice. “Yeah, it’s pretty awful.”

  “At least you’re better,” she said. “I mean, it could be worse. Could be chronic.”

  My stomach sank at her words. She had no idea.

  “Yeah,” I said flatly. I didn’t have the energy to explain to her it was chronic. I quickly changed the subject. “So, is there any makeup work?”

  “We studied the Ace of Wands through the Ten of Wands,” she told me, “but there’s no homework.”

  “Okay, thanks.” I turned and left the room with Isa in my arms. I knew Professor Wykoff had been trying to make me feel better, but I couldn’t get her comment out of my mind. Who was she to assume what I went through?

  I was walking back to my dorm, barely paying attention, when I passed through the foyer. Tons of students were hanging around, but it wasn’t until Isa growled lowly that I actually paid attention.

  I lifted my gaze and saw Lucas chatting with that blonde chick, Lena, next to the fireplace. She laughed at something he said, which was dumb, because he wasn’t even that funny. When she laughed, she reached out and touched his arm. He glanced down at her fingers, but he barely acknowledged that she touched him, like it was totally natural for those two.

  Lena pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and fluttered her eyelashes at him. I just stood there frozen, watching, my stomach turning into knots. If he held her hand again, so help me…

  Lena’s eyes darted around the foyer, and for a second, they landed on me. She didn’t look at me long, but something sparked in her eyes when she saw me. I couldn’t even explain what it was. Jealousy, maybe?

  Which made no sense, because if anyone was allowed to feel jealous, it was me. Lucas clearly didn’t have a problem hanging out with her.

  Lena said something I couldn’t hear. The next second, she reached up and placed her hand on the side of Lucas’s face. She leaned in and planted a kiss right on his lips. In the middle of the fucking foyer!

  I went completely still, and the room spun around me. Rejection settled like a knife in my gut. This was a hundred times worse than when he held her hand. This was confirmation of everything I’d worried about the first time I saw them together.

  Lucas didn’t want me.

  But apparently, he didn’t care about the Reaper’s Shadow curse when Lena was involved. Those two could have it all.

  How could I have been so stupid? Why had I fallen for Lucas in the first place? And why the hell was I so mad that he was kissing Lena? It wasn’t like I owned him.

  Rationally, I knew that. But deep down, I felt a connection there that screamed of possession. He was mine, and I was his. We were two broken puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together—if only he wanted to.

  Except Lucas didn’t want that with me. He wanted it with Lena.

  Screw him! He didn’t know what he was missing out on. I was going to have to get him to see that for himself.

  I couldn’t make sense of what dark energy overcame me in that moment, but I felt nothing like myself. Jealousy, rage, and revenge bubbled up inside of me. All I knew was I had to do something to let off some steam.

  I whirled toward the stairs. One second, I was stomping toward the banister, and the next, I was in my room. I hardly knew how I’d gotten there.

  Talia was playing music at her piano but stopped abruptly when I entered the room. “Is something wrong?”

  A maniacal laugh bubbled out of my throat. “Try everything. I just saw Lucas kissing that bitch Lena.”

  Talia’s jaw dropped. “He didn’t.”

  “He did,” I stated. “And I’m getting back at him.”

  I dropped Isa off on my bed, then flung open my dresser and went for the skimpiest outfit I could find. I pulled on a black crop top and matching shorts that showed off my ass cheeks. I didn’t even know where the outfit had come from, but I felt empowered in it. I let my hair down and slipped on a pair of high heels.

  Talia’s jaw dropped. “Nadine, are you sure about this? You’re really emotional right now.”

  “Hell yeah, I am!” I cried. “Lucas can reject me all he wants, but he can at least tell me the truth, jackass. See you later, Tal.”

  I waved over my shoulder and left the room.

  “Nadine, wait!” she called, but the door was already closing behind me.

  I didn’t know where I was going—just that I was looking for trouble. I passed through the foyer, expecting to show off my new look to Lucas, but he was gone.

  Shame.

  I swayed my hips as I walked down the hall as if I was on the runway. I could practically hear the bad-chick music in my mind. I pursed my lips and floated down the hall like a hella confident goddess. All eyes turned my way, and power exuded out of me. I felt like I could lift a mountain.

  I stepped into the lounge, where my gaze narrowed in on what I was looking for—the one thing that would piss Lucas off the most.

  Ryan.

  He sat alone in the corner by the TVs, his arms stretched across the back of one of the couches. There was something in the way Ryan sat that made it look like he was on a throne. Confidence rolled off him in waves. He seemed like a king turning his nose up at all his peasant servants.

  He was the total opposite of Lucas, and right now, it totally turned me on.

&nb
sp; I walked straight up to Ryan, and let me tell you, when he noticed me, he noticed me. His eyes roamed up and down my body in such a seductive way that it already felt like his hands were on me. I should’ve felt dirty—and I did, in a way. But something about it exhilarated me, too.

  Well, hellooo, danger.

  “Mind if I sit?” I asked in a tone that wasn’t my own.

  Ryan straightened his spine, and his eyes traveled straight down to lock on my breasts. “Go ahead, sweetheart.”

  He gestured to the cushion beside him, but I didn’t take it. I caved to the bad girl inside of me and sat straight on his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck.

  “Where have you been hanging around, handsome?” I asked.

  Ryan wrapped an arm around my waist. “I could ask you the same thing. Have we met?”

  I found it hilarious he didn’t recognize me, considering I nearly ran him over with my car. But that was the kind of guy he was. He only noticed a girl if she was spewing sex pheromones his way.

  I ran a finger across his chest. “I think I’d remember you.”

  Ryan smirked. “I’ll give you something to remember.”

  “How about a broken jaw?”

  My heart fluttered at the sound of the voice, and I couldn’t help it when a smile spread across my face. I turned to see Lucas standing there, his hands curled tightly into fists. A dark shadow crossed his eyes, and he looked like he was about to strangle Ryan.

  My, my, my… looks like Lucas couldn’t handle a little jealousy after all.

  And it thrilled me.

  Chapter 17

  Lucas

  Lena was kissing me. What the hell?

  One second we were talking about our class assignment, and the next her lips were on mine. I’d kissed Lena before, back when we were dating in high school, but this was different. This was empty.

  I felt nothing—absolutely nothing. Her lips were cold, and her hand felt like ice on my face. For all I knew, she could’ve been a ghost.

  It took me a few seconds to realize what was happening, because no way was Lena fucking kissing me. But it was happening, and I totally wasn’t okay with it.

  I pressed against Lena’s shoulder and pushed her away from me. “Lena, what the hell?” I hissed, glancing around the foyer. No one seemed to notice—or simply didn’t care.

  Lena tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder. “What’s wrong, Lucas? We’ve kissed like, a million times before.”

  “When we were together,” I snapped.

  She pursed her ruby red lips and shrugged. “I thought you’d like a taste of what you were missing.”

  I scoffed. “I gotta say, Lena, it wasn’t that sweet.”

  “So, what?” she challenged. “You’ve had sweeter?”

  I raked my hands through my hair. “Come on, Lena. You know I don’t date.”

  She lifted a manicured eyebrow. “Really? Because word around these halls is you have something going on with that Nadine girl.”

  “There’s nothing going on…” I trailed off. Lena wore a pleased expression, but I didn’t understand it at first.

  Then it hit me. She’d kissed me because of Nadine.

  “She saw, didn’t she?” I growled. “You made sure of it.”

  Lena shrugged. “I don’t know. Why don’t you go ask her?”

  “Lena,” I groaned. I started to walk away—because I just couldn’t take her right now—but I realized a second later I had more I wanted to say. I whirled back toward her. “You know what? I’m not some piece of property you can go around marking.”

  “You know I don’t think that,” she said, but there was no emotion behind her voice. She was as cold as ice—always had been.

  “What do you want with me anyway?” I demanded. “You know nothing will ever happen between us.”

  She just stood there staring at me with complete confidence written across her face. Then it hit me—if she couldn’t have me, no one could.

  To hell with her. I could hang out with whomever I pleased.

  I stomped away from Lena and headed down the hall in search of Nadine. I’d never seen her in the foyer, so I didn’t know which way she’d gone. Heck, I didn’t even know for sure if she’d seen. It could all be a stupid manipulation tactic from Lena to get me to tell Nadine I kissed another girl.

  Yeah, I got that I was supposed to be playing the asshole, but I wasn’t that kind of asshole. I had to explain to her what happened.

  I wandered down the hall and checked the cafeteria, then tried a couple study areas, but I didn’t spot Nadine. I turned around and headed in the other direction toward the Lounge.

  My stomach flipped when I caught sight of her, but it immediately dropped when I noticed everything else about the scene. It was all wrong.

  Nadine was dressed in sexy little number that left little to the imagination. It seemed like something Chloe or Lena would wear—not my sweet Nad. I barely recognized her.

  It wasn’t just the outfit she was wearing, either. It was this look in her eyes I’d never seen before. Something dark and sinister lurked beneath the surface—like she was under some sort of spell.

  The worst part, though, was Ryan. Nadine sat in his lap, her arm draped around his shoulder. His hand rested so low on her hip he was practically touching her ass.

  “I think I’d remember you,” Nadine said in a voice that wasn’t quite her own.

  Ryan practically undressed Nadine with his eyes. “I’ll give you something to remember.”

  Red-hot rage ignited inside of me. “How about a broken jaw?” I snapped.

  Nadine turned toward me, and she smirked proudly.

  Ryan chuckled. “You really think you can take me, Taylor? Don’t forget what happened last time.”

  “Your backup’s not around this time,” I pointed out. “Let Nadine go.”

  Ryan smirked, like my attempt to rescue her was nothing short of amusing. “You act like I’m the one who initiated this. I think the girl can speak for herself.”

  I crossed my arms and looked to Nadine, a single eyebrow raised. “Nad?”

  She practically beamed. “Ryan and I were just hanging out.”

  Ryan and Nadine would never just hang out. Someone must’ve slipped her a potion or something.

  "You're not thinking straight," I insisted. "Let's go."

  I reached for Nadine's wrist, though I was careful to be gentle with her. Nadine got to her feet, but so did Ryan. He took her other wrist, like he was laying his claim on her. She glanced between the two of us, looking mildly pleased.

  Ryan puffed out his chest. "You're gonna have to fight for her—"

  Thwack.

  My fist connected with Ryan's jaw before he could finish his sentence. Hell yeah, I was going to fight for Nadine! And I was going to get a good swing in before he went all telekinetic crazy on me.

  Pain shot through my knuckles, but it was worth every ounce. Ryan's head snapped backward, and his eyes rolled into his skull. His body slumped onto the couch. A girl sitting nearby gasped, while the guy next to her beamed at the sight of a fight.

  Nadine's eyes went wide as she looked down to Ryan's unconscious body. "Lucas!"

  At first, I thought she was scolding me, but she turned to me with an expression of exhilaration written on her face.

  I shook my hand out. "Lucky shot, I guess. Let's get out of here."

  I took Nadine's hand, and we hurried out of the Lounge. She followed without resisting. I dragged her into a dark, empty room down the hall and took her face in my hands. I searched her eyes for dilation, but they looked normal.

  And yet, I couldn't help but get lost in them. Once my eyes began to roam her features, I couldn't look away.

  Nadine shot a glance toward the door. "Um, Lucas. What are you doing?"

  "I'm checking to see if you've been drugged."

  "What!?" Nadine slapped my hands away. "I haven't been drugged."

  "Then what the hell is wrong with you, Nad?" I snapped. Heat f
lared deep in my belly just thinking about her with Ryan.

  She crossed her arms. "Nothing's wrong with me. That was all me back there."

  "This isn't you," I argued. I eyed her up and down. The new look was... stunning... but it wasn't her. I much preferred her usual look—tight jeans and long sleeves. "You don't dress like this, and you don't act like that."

  "I could say the same about you!" she yelled. "I thought you didn't date."

  My breath caught. I didn’t need any more confirmation than that. She'd seen Lena kiss me.

  I raked my fingers through my hair. "Nad, it's not what you think."

  She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What is it that I think?"

  I frowned. "I know you saw me and Lena in the foyer."

  She pursed her lips. "Yeah. How is the new girlfriend?"

  "She's not my—" I blew out a breath of exasperation. "Lena kissed me, okay? I didn't kiss her back, and I’d never want to."

  Nadine's features fell, and she blinked a few times. "Oh. Well, that's..."

  She trailed off, looking deeply contemplative.

  A few moments passed before I broke the silence. "So, do I get an explanation, or—?"

  "Where is that motherfucker!?" a voice sounded down the hall, cutting me off.

  Instinctively, I grabbed Nadine's shoulders and pressed her up against the wall, pushing both of us deep into the shadows.

  The two of us held our breaths as we listened to the sound of Ryan's footsteps pound down the hall toward us. I finally let out a breath when he passed. It was only then that I became acutely aware of how close Nadine and I were. I'd sandwiched her between myself and the wall, and I could feel her heartbeat against me. Her breasts were pressed firmly against my chest, and my jeans started to tighten.

  I jumped away from her quickly, and I cleared my throat. My eyes darted around the room—anything not to look her in the eyes while my dick calmed the eff down.

  It was the first time I noticed what room I'd dragged her into. It was one of the fitness rooms, complete with those big yoga balls, towels, and a shelf packed full of rolled up yoga mats. My eyes fell on a box marked Lost and Found, and I noticed a black fleece and yoga pants inside.