Dancing With Demons (The Academy of Amazing Beasts Book 3)

by Melody Rose

  Eventually, as Aurelius and I became soul-bonded to one another, we were able to communicate telepathically, so the story became clearer. This interaction was more subtle in our day-to-day life, but it still meant that I could pick up on his emotions. Where we were really able to exchange information and messages was in our dreams. When we were asleep, somehow, we were transported to an ethereal plane that wasn’t random and confusing, like those scattered images the uninitiated experienced. Instead, my conversations with Aurelius were clear as crystal, perfectly clear. He even spoke to me in a language familiar to me, though I never remembered the sound of it when I woke up.

  What I walked away with was that Aurelius was never terrified of the boggarts themselves. What aggravated him as a wise-beyond-his-years pup was that his keepers would throw barely born creatures into the lion’s den. On top of that, these little ones were tossed into a traumatic for no good reason as far as Aurelius saw it. The sinister-looking illusions weren’t even real, and so the pups were expected to rally over what wasn’t actually a threat. This aggravated Aurelius to no end. He just couldn’t pull himself out of his mental funk and was the definition of uninspired. There was no real cause to fight for.

  Maybe that was why Aurelius transformed into a towering shadow beast when I was nearly roasted by my first real bully at Bouclier and why he was, as far as I could tell, a prowling inferno since the face-off with a genuine, out-for-blood demon. Once Aurelius found out that there was real danger in Lemuria for his companion, he tapped into himself and discovered the true heights of his abilities.

  All the revelations swirled around in my head as I woke up in the middle of the night, a few days after speaking with Becks about rites and covens. A new phrase flashed in my head, though. That was really unusual, so I sprinted to my writing desk and dipped my quill in a pot of ink. At first, I thought this method was strange, but by now, I weaned myself off of ballpoints. Quickly, I scrawled the message that echoed even in my half-awake state. After I was done marking up the small piece of parchment, I studied it to strengthen my courage.

  “The woods. It’s time.”

  A short and not so sweet message. I couldn’t deny what it was telling me to do, and I knew it was easy to remember cause I had to answer its call. With a deep breath, I decided to get rid of the evidence. I didn’t want to get cold feet, and I didn’t want anyone stopping me. I was tired of being cradled like a fragile porcelain doll.

  “Débarrassez-vous de cette note,” I quietly hissed. “Get rid of this note.”

  The parchment then dissolved into a small downpour of dust until it disappeared entirely.

  Call it paranoia after what happened to me the last time I wandered into the circle of eternal death’s depths, but I got the strong sense that I should remain hidden. I wasn’t well-versed in cloaking magic, most especially because it was off-limits for Bouclier students, so I made do with a hooded cape. Since it was cut from a dark cloth, I hope it would give me enough concealment.

  As for Aurelius, I didn’t really know what could be done about him. I hoped he would transform into a shadow beast, but apparently, he was locked into elemental magic. He understood the drill, though, and knew that I wanted to be incognito. The best he could do for me was to shift his glowing flames into wafting smoke.

  That actually wasn’t a bad idea, given what he had to work with. Seeing that there were so many spirits and wraiths wandering about, it was decent camouflage. From afar, he’d fit in with every other nondescript, floating shape, and on closer inspection, he could pass as a deceased familiar.

  Convinced that Aurelius and I were as prepared as we could’ve been, I slipped on a pair of boots imbued with a stealth charm that Becks had gifted me for Yule. She told me that they would come in handy if I ever wanted to play hooky with her. Well, she was at least partially right about that. I slunk down all the stairs, opened the door to the lavender courtyard with painstaking care, and slipped into the darkness of the haunted forest. Aurelius made sure to trail by my side at every moment.

  Luckily, the circle of eternal death seemed to be restored back to normal. Boggarts of every variety, a thousand childhood nightmares come to life, swirled around, and tried to torment us. The sound of grotesque giggling and the clattering of teeth permeated the dank night air. Maybe when I was a first-year mage, I would’ve been seriously perturbed, but it was just a thorn in my side at this point. They were empty-spirited nuisances that paled in comparison to what frothed out of the abyss.

  I felt bold enough to utter, “It’s okay, boy, we’ve got this,” but decided against it. We were still too close to the campus behind us and what may have laid in wait ahead. Still, he understood what I meant, even in my silence.

  In discreet solidarity, Aurelius nuzzled my leg as if he agreed with me. It wasn’t an unsettling sensation at all. Quite the opposite. His smoky touch brought to mind the comforting warmth of a fireplace. The embers of my will danced, and I was goaded to walk even further. If we were truly going to replicate our experience from the first day of the semester, then we needed to keep up the pace. I wanted to be sure that we could take on the world without anyone else. That was, after all, the oath that a true familiar and companion needed to uphold.

  After about twenty minutes, we were out of Bouclier bounds and into taboo territory. I raised an eyebrow as I took inventory of my surroundings. A trail of rose petals alternated with carnelian gemstones stretched out into the thick of the woods, where the trees were denser. What a stark contrast in the shadowy forest. It was what my Ciphers and Runes professor would have called sublime, so severely beautiful and mysterious it hurt. I was also reminded of dark alleyways from Earth, uncomfortably tight spaces where bad run-ins were bound to happen. After I pried my eyes off of the thin, crimson path below me, I looked up at the glimmer in the tree canopy above me.

  A clump of lunar faeries clung to each other, a shivering halo of avoidance. How strange. Both Aurelius and I exchanged looks, our lore of the fey telling us that this was truly abnormal behavior. These little troublemakers were voyeurs of violence and chaos. Why, then, would they be hiding themselves as far away as possible from the surface?

  When I first spotted the red petals, I thought maybe this was Theo’s weird way of romancing me. Maybe he really was threatened by the fact that Damian was the first to rescue me. On the other hand, maybe I was overly suspicious. He and I had grown close over the semesters and even began to read each other’s thoughts, even predict choices before they were even made.

  Could he have connected the dots and known I was going to push myself? All I wanted to do was face my fears, but I could see how that would alarm him. If the lunar faeries caught wind of Theo’s arrival, especially if he appeared to be designing a ritual, they probably freaked out. Seeing that they were all the way out here, they had no idea that he evolved. They probably thought he’d throw all the nearby creatures to an ogre or melt them all with a single banishing spell. Poor things. Well, at least they learned not to gawk at others’ misfortunes.

  I smiled softly to myself, stroked Aurelius’s warm back, then followed the path of petals. Technically, by doing so, I was venturing beyond where I intended to. I already reached the point I needed to send a message to myself that I wasn’t defenseless. It couldn’t hurt to push myself even more, a dynamic I was pretty used to when it came to Theo.

  When I made my way to the end, I stopped dead in my tracks. My heart was squeezed tight with fear, and I went completely stiff.

  Serafina stood at the far end of a circle of mysterious worshippers, all clad in wine red, hooded cloaks. Not only did it look like the stuff of a Satanic ritual, what with the floating black candles, scattered bones, and a Baphomet statue in the middle of their gathering, but every mage also seemed ready to melt into some obscene ceremony. They all carried sickles that were so polished that I could see the starlight on them. That’s when they all parted their capes, completely baring their naked bodies. I didn’t know if they were going to sac
rifice an animal, start an orgy, or worse, both.

  What the hell did I get myself into?

  What was even stranger was that Serafina seemed to be the ringleader. Every time she murmured in a deep, resonant tone, completely different from the sugary-sweet sing-song I knew, the mages repeated what she said. I couldn’t make out their incantations because it wasn’t Lemurian, but it caused the horned figurine to shoot up from the ground. In a single file and one by one, they each walked up and kissed Baphomet’s feet.

  First, I got really anxious, my stomach knotting up. Then, I got pissed off. Why was Nascha forced to “resign” and be imprisoned if Serafina could fetishize the most notorious demon of them all? The old dean might’ve had a brooding, gothic aesthetic, but she was clear about abandoning the abyss. Her heart was in uplifting Lemurians and spreading knowledge, that was it. Was this new dean some double agent, or was she a total fraud?

  I was leaning toward the latter, since getting this involved was going too far.

  I didn’t know if I was at the peak level of fight or flight since it was just Aurelius and me, but I also noticed a truly bizarre development. My hound had disappeared entirely, in the traditional sense. There was no visible trace of him, but I could still see his energetic signature. Instead of an aura that any mage could pick up on, a series of runes levitated in his place. Just like our dream language, I could make sense of it immediately. The symbols simply reassured me that he was there for me.

  Seeing that the two of us had a bond, my awareness was sparked. If Aurelius had activated an invisibility spell, then I might’ve been part of it too. I held my hand out in front of me and noticed the same secretive signs that replaced Aurelius.

  Whatever was responsible for keeping Aurelius and me safe from being seen, I didn’t want to try my luck. I tightened my lips as though I were going to whistle, signaling to my hound that it was time to get out of Dodge. This was just too weird, so I ran as far away and fast as I could.

  I don’t know why I thought it was a bright idea, but in the heat of the moment, I ran away from Bouclier grounds instead of toward it. I was so compelled, and my heart followed my basic instincts. After an unknown amount of time, I finally ran out of breath. I folded over at the waist and clutched my knees, panting. My eyes glazed over with tears when I realized my invisibility spell faded.

  I didn’t want to end up some human sacrifice. Who knew how much magical “lamb’s blood” was sought after?

  “No one’s going to touch you, Joan,” a soothing but stern voice reassured me. I perked up, holding my stomach since I was still sore from all the sprinting.

  “Theo?!” I spluttered. “What are you doing here?!”

  He adjusted his cravat and inspected his surroundings. It didn’t look as though this were some impromptu venture. Instead, Theo was dressed in head to toe black brocade, elegant and skin-tight. Even though he was obviously outfitted like a battle warlock, probably preparing for a violent encounter if it came to that, I couldn’t help but lust after him.

  I might have been even more primal because I narrowly evaded a clan of sickle-wielding Satanists. Right now, he looked like a whole snack, some gorgeous supernatural thriller hero. Leather holsters were all over him, from his biceps to his ankles. He had a whole arsenal of weapons, including both wands and blades. Instead of intimidating me, I was comforted. I rushed over and hugged him while Aurelius nudged Theo lovingly.

  “That’s a complicated question,” Theo answered. “Perhaps best suited elsewhere.”

  I pouted and nestled my chin in his chest, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes. I was hungry for answers, and even though his advice was pretty sound, I needed some security. I wanted to make sense of all that I’d just seen.

  Theo relented, rolling his eyes in mock annoyance. “Alright, alright, none of that pouting, pet. We’ll be fine, I just needed to take some precautions,” he explained. “And I suppose I owe you an explanation now that you’ve found me in the thick of the woods, armed to the teeth.”

  “You bet you do!” I teased and nibbled his neck. It might have been inappropriate timing, but it was just what I was hoping for. I started off wanting to wander as far as I could into the circle of eternal death without getting skinned alive. So far, I was successful, and this stolen romantic moment was an extra bonus. I seriously felt as though I was recovering from all my demon trauma. Theo now had that healing effect on me, and I was grateful to be able to associate the haunted forest with him now. I didn’t anticipate finding him and instead wanted to take on this challenge on my own. Luckily, I killed two birds with one stone. I survived this hellish part of the woods and reunited with my boyfriend. It honestly felt like fate.

  “Mmm…” he murmured in satisfaction. “Okay, let’s focus here, mon tresor.” Theo then closed his eyes, steeled his will, and delicately kissed me on the forehead. I saw that as a sign to cool it, at least while we were in such risky territory. I blushed and took a step back.

  “Truth be told,” he began. “I’ve been trailing this Serafina Ambrosia for quite some time. I find the terms of her employment questionable, particularly as Nascha kept the academy in as stellar shape as it could be during my father’s negligence. When I drew the Tower card tonight, I was sure that some culprit is plotting against Bouclier.”

  As he began to explain himself, I exhaled with relief. So it wasn’t just me, and my suspicion of Serafina wasn’t just in my head. I mean, before I encountered her little Eyes Wide Shut ritual, I might’ve looked irrational. How hard was it for an “angelic” type to claim she caught a succubus red-handed hypnotizing the headmaster? I mean, all the fables about that infernal species revolved around seduction. Plus, Serafina had her squeaky clean charm down pat. I was just glad the Theo didn’t buy her act like the rest of the faculty. That endeared me to him even more.

  “I couldn’t just wait and watch this new interloper sabotage my ancestral home, so--”

  A strange, high-pitched noise interrupted Theo. Aurelius, he, and I all turned to find the source. Somehow, I hadn’t noticed during our entire conversation, but the tiniest black kitten I’d ever seen was right at Theo’s feet. It whimpered pitifully, craning its neck up as though desperate for his attention. He rubbed his neck awkwardly, then knelt down to pat its head.

  “There, there,” he whispered. “Now, whose familiar might you be? Let’s see if I can check for a companionship sigil, or perform a detection cantrip…”

  This didn’t work at all, though. Instead of being cheered up at the idea of being reunited with its mage, the kitten began crying. That only set off Aurelius, who, despite his ferocious appearance, still had a big and mushy heart. My hound began howling bloody murder, commiserating over the kitten’s misery. I clapped my hands on either cheek, absolutely mortified. A dramatic spectacle is exactly what we didn’t need when a sinister cult was just yards away.

  “Alright…” Theo uttered in a strained voice. He even raked his fingers through his blond hair in anxiousness. “This isn’t ideal. We can continue this conversation, but not right here.”

  I nodded and watched him scoop up the kitten. Of course, he’d make sure that the defenseless creature wouldn’t be stranded in the woods. Though I did wonder how it ended up here in the first place. Even while he shuffled further away into the woods to gain more distance, he delicately patted the sleek critter’s back. I followed suit, hurrying up after him as Aurelius continued to whine.

  Satisfied that he was far enough from Serafina to perform his incantation in peace, he stopped at a clearing and kissed the top of the kitten’s head. Probably trying to console it, he prioritized reuniting the creature with its mage. I was in complete support of that choice since I didn’t think we were in immediate danger.

  “Trouvez ce chaton…” he began but wasn’t able to finish the spellwork. The kitten began shrieking, provoking Aurelius again, who mimicked her agony with a blood-curdling cry. I couldn’t help but facepalm at the morbid hilarity of it all. We were all going
to end up Serafina’s trophies if we didn’t get out soon. She’d probably get out scot-free, too, provided that she got rid of Nathan and Becks. I’m sure the two of them would launch a full-on investigation. Still, the new dean would probably blame it on Nascha and get her sentenced to death. All of those thoughts flooded me in a matter of seconds. I broke out in a cold sweat, terrified.

  “Damn!” Theo hissed, more irritated than perturbed. “I’ll have to take care of that later, then.” I’m glad one of us was relatively composed. My entire aura had broken out in scarlet fear, causing his to react with the stone grey of a mage trying to keep his cool.

  “I don’t want to alarm you, Joan,” he stated, “but we’re running out of time, and these blasted animals aren’t helping our case. I wouldn’t want to lie to you, mon cherie. Just know that I’ll protect you at all costs, even if Serafina is intent on our downfall.”

  Anyone else might have perceived this as poor time management, disclosing all of this even as he claimed we needed to hurry up. I understood what he meant and why he chose now to tell me. Even at the height of danger, we would always have each other. I nodded and kissed his cheek. My ears rang in the process from all the mournful mewling.

  Despite the unappealing noise, Theo smiled knowingly. Then, he launched into his second incantation. The kitten finally shut up long enough for him to pull it off.

  “Amenez-nous tous les quatre dans ma chambre à la fois,” Theo demanded. “Bring all four of us to my quarters at once.”

  18

  Theo

  Upon our arrival, I was already prepared for Joan to stay over. A turquoise down robe was folded on my bed, topped with a gold-toned box of chocolate tea biscuits. On my end table was a cup of honeyed chamomile, and below it was a replica of Aurelius’ familiar bed. I, regrettably, hadn’t prepared any accommodations for the odd little kitten. It was an unexpected addition to our party, after all.