by W. J. May
From the second she’d left the library, Dorian’s last words had lodged themselves into her brain. Aaron Dorf was a good man. He didn’t deserve what had happened. She should apologize.
Even though she was a stranger to the concept, she’d decided to give it a try.
After taking a deep breath, she knocked quietly on the door.
“Mr. Dorf?”
She waited a few seconds, but there was no answer. After a few seconds more she pressed her ear to the door, listening inside. Much to her surprise it cracked open the second she touched it, filling the hallway with a shaft of silver light.
That’s weird...
“Mr. Dorf?” She stepped inside cautiously, not wanting to get in trouble for trespassing on the same night. “It’s Aria Wardell. I was hoping you had a second to talk?”
There wasn’t a sound inside, not a person in sight. And yet...a strange feeling crept up her spine as she took a step closer, staring at the floor by his desk.
There was something pooled on the tile. Something that looked almost like—
“...Sir?”
She took a step closer, then froze where she stood.
The teacher was there all right. But he wouldn’t be answering her anytime soon. His neck was twisted at a strange angle and lifeless eyes were staring up at the moon.
She stood there for a second. One horrifying second.
Then she let out a scream.
THE END
Book 2
Copyright 2019 by W.J. May
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All rights reserved.
Myths & Magic
Book 2 of the Kerrigan Kids
Copyright 2019 by W.J. May
Cover design by: Book Cover by Design
NO PART OF THIS BOOK may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.
Myths & Magic
IT WAS A TRIAL BY FIRE...
When a vicious murder rocks the Guilder Boarding School, Aria and her friends find themselves on shaky ground. When everyone has motive, everyone’s a suspect. And thanks to a public brawl with the victim, Aria Wardell is seen to have more motive than most.
While fending off a spate of accusations from students and faculty alike, Aria struggles to find balance in her life amidst the shocking development of some new powers. A new group of shifters on campus raises more questions than answers, and no matter how the world is crumbling around her she can't get a certain moonlit kiss out of her mind.
Trouble is brewing. Secrets can’t stay secret for long.
Will she ever get answers? Or should some secrets be taken to the grave?
Chapter 1
It’s amazing how fast the supernatural world comes running when they hear a scream.
No sooner had Aria opened her mouth than the door banged open and two people flew inside. They took one look at the dead professor before grabbing her by the arms and pulling her to the other side of the room. She wished they’d pulled her into the hallway instead. She couldn’t stand to be in such close proximity. She could still see his hand reaching out from behind the desk.
“Aria Wardell?” a voice asked sharply.
She lifted her eyes, trembling with fear. “I was just coming to talk to him...” she answered in a voice much higher than her own. “I was just coming to talk to him, then I saw...”
A wave of nausea lurched in her stomach, and for a split second she was terrified she was going to throw up. The room was spinning. She could hardly catch her breath.
The men shared a quick look before tightening their grip.
They definitely worked for the Council, but they weren’t close with her parents because she had never talked with them before. As it stood, she had no idea why they were holding on to her so tightly. She almost fainted on the spot when she realized she couldn’t get away.
“What’s going on?” she asked in bewilderment, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Shouldn’t you be looking for whoever did this before they get away?”
They shared another look and a sudden chill ran down her arms.
...they think it’s me.
The door banged open again and a streak of color entered the room. Aria recognized the crimson hair before he’d even slowed down. Benji lived with the other boys in Joist Hall, on the far side of campus, but with his cheetah tatù he’d crossed the school in six seconds flat.
“What’s going on?” he demanded to know, sliding across the tile. He saw the body a second later, cartoonishly scrambling backward to avoid the blood. “Holy crap!”
They grabbed him a second later, splitting up so one of them was holding each child. Benji strained automatically, then twisted around to look at the man in astonishment. Strangely enough, he hadn’t yet made the connection that he might be in trouble. He couldn’t see anything past the dead teacher lying in the center of the room.
“...is he really dead?” he asked in the same faltering whisper you’d use in a church or a library. “Did somebody check him?”
For a split second, Aria forgot her own troubles and felt almost sorry for him. His skin had lost every speck of color. His electric blue eyes were taking up almost half his face.
Benji...he’s dead.
She said it telepathically—half because she was afraid to speak in front of the agents, half because her voice was shaking too much to say it out loud. He turned his head, locking eyes with her for a suspended moment before struggling against the man holding him, suddenly furious.
“What the hell are you doing?” he demanded. “Get off of me!”
“Be quiet,” the agent ordered sternly. He nodded to his partner, who typed a quick message into his phone. “And no talking to the girl. She’s a suspect and this is officially a crime scene.”
“A suspect?” Benji echoed in disbelief. “Are you crazy?! Can’t you see she’s scared—let me go!”
All of a sudden a new man swept into the room.
“Get your hands off my son.”
Never in her life had Aria been happier to see her Uncle Luke. He taught in the history building as well, and had been working several floors up when he heard the commotion. Always a cool head under pressure, there was nothing remotely calm about Luke now. In fact, he looked a second away from lighting the building on fire, starting with the man who was restraining his son.
The agents shared a nervous glance, but he didn’t wait for them to obey. Instead, he stepped forward and literally ripped Benjamin out of the man’s arms.
“Now let go of my niece.”
Aria strained towards him, but the agent refused to let her go.
“Your niece is the prime suspect in a homicide.” His voice wavered slightly, but he held his ground. “We need to take her in for
questioning.”
The room fell dead quiet.
“You can’t possibly be serious.”
Both agents flinched, but didn’t give up the fight. In fact, something about his tone seemed to rally them further—summoning a rage and bitterness Aria didn’t understand.
“I know you and the royal family happen to run this town—but this is one step too far,” the agent holding Aria growled. “She was seen standing above the body. There was no one else in sight.”
Aria’s knees buckled precariously, but Luke didn’t bat an eye.
“I’m not going to warn you again,” he said coolly. “Let her go.”
The man who’d been holding Benji couldn’t help but sneer, “Or what?”
The door opened one final time as a handsome man swept inside, totally fearless.
“Or you’ll have to deal with me.”
Tristan!
The last time Aria had seen her paternal grandfather, he’d been taking off in the dead of night to board a plane for Austria. No one except Carter knew exactly what his business there was. The only reason she even knew where he’d gone was because he’d said goodbye to Devon on his way out.
He’d missed the beginning of term, Lily’s birthday and orientation, even her own traditional first detention to herald in the new year. But the timing of his return couldn’t have been better.
The agent released her immediately, taking a respectful step back.
“I’m sorry, sir. But you have to understand—”
But Tristan was no longer looking at him. He was kneeling beside the fallen teacher, a look of shock and sadness on his face. “What happened?”
For the first time, the shock lifted and the reality of what had happened hit Aria upside the head. She let out a quiet sob then covered her face in her hands, weeping silent tears.
She was in her grandfather’s arms a second later, sobbing openly into his shirt.
“It’s all right,” he soothed, smoothing down her hair. “It’s going to be all right. Let’s get you two out of this room, okay?”
She nodded shakily and allowed herself to be led into the hall. Benji was just a step behind her, still under his father’s protective grip.
Despite the initial scream, the campus was quiet. Like a shadowy postcard of the perfect English autumn night. Of course that didn’t mean there weren’t people out there, prowling about in the shadows. From the second she screamed, the alarm had been raised and agents had flooded out of the Oratory. More had been called in from overseas. Every inch of the perimeter was under constant patrol. Security feed was being pulled from the main gate. It had been a long time since there had been a death on the Guilder campus. They had no intention of letting it happen again.
What if the murderer’s still here? Aria thought with a shiver, leaning closer into her grandfather’s protective arm. What if he’s out there right now—watching?
The silent processional continued walking down the hallway until they were no longer within sight of the crime. The room was closed and locked for good measure. An invisible guard stood just outside. Another stood outside the exterior windows for good measure.
“Right here is fine.”
Tristan came to a stop in the lobby of the faculty building. A place that was littered with sofas and chairs. A place that was familiar—she and Benji had waited there many times. Aria paused instinctively by his side, waiting for whatever was coming next.
It took a few seconds to realize the spotlight had shifted.
Why are they all looking at me?
Tristan waited patiently for her to catch her breath, holding up a threatening hand whenever the agents tried to speak. After a few moments, once she’d composed herself, he steered her down onto a chair and knelt into her line of sight, taking her gently by both hands.
“Sweetheart, can you tell me what happened tonight?”
It was probably the most unorthodox way to question a witness in the whole history of the organization, but not a person in the school was willing to go against Tristan’s command. The agents scowled but held their tongues, watching over his shoulder as she pulled in a shuddering breath.
“I had a...a fight with Mr. Dorf in class today,” she admitted shakily, twisting her fingers in the sleeves of her borrowed sweater. It might not have been the wisest thing to admit in light of the present circumstances, but she’d never lied to her grandfather and she certainly wasn’t about to start now. “I spent the evening in detention at the library and was just walking back to my dorm. Then I saw that lights were still on in the history building and I decided to apologize.”
She stopped abruptly, staring at the tile floor like she could still see the blood.
Tristan wasn’t going to make her relive it. He was too experienced and had seen too many dead bodies himself to add another layer of trauma to an eighteen-year-old girl. Instead he asked a series of practiced questions, delivering each in a quiet, steady voice.
“Was the door open or closed?”
“Open,” she said quickly, grateful for the assist. “I remember being surprised.”
He nodded slowly, staring deep into her eyes. “And you didn’t see or hear anything beforehand? The sound of footsteps? Maybe a window creaking shut?”
By now the agents were on the balls of their feet, straining closer like they could pry the answers straight out of her head. Even Luke was riveted. His eyes were darting between them and his hand was clenched in an almost painful grip on his son.
Aria thought back, trying to remember the moments before she’d opened the door. It was dark, she remembered that. There hadn’t been any lights. And as far as sounds...
The kiss, she realized in sudden horror. I wasn’t paying attention. I was thinking about the kiss.
“No, there wasn’t anything.” She cleared her throat, avoiding his eyes. “I just pushed open the door and saw him lying there. At first I didn’t understand...then I saw the blood.”
A shudder ran through her body and her voice dropped to a whisper.
“I screamed.”
At that point Luke and the agents glanced back towards the door, while Tristan’s face tightened painfully. He’d been far too young the first time he’d stumbled upon a blood-soaked body, a memory he’d rather forget. This was his granddaughter. And Aaron Dorf had been a friend.
“All right,” he said softly, straightening up. Only then did he seem to notice Benji standing like a sentry behind her chair. “Were you in detention as well?”
Benji shook his head, trying to stand tall.
“I heard her scream.” Tristan waited for more explanation, but the boy shook his head like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I ran over from my dorm.”
The ghost of a smile flickered across Tristan’s face, something that bordered on nostalgia. It was gone a second later as he glanced down at the screen of his phone.
“You spent the evening in the library?” he asked quietly, glancing back at Aria. She nodded quickly and he turned to an agent. “Get the librarian.” When the man disappeared he turned back to her, speaking in an almost hypnotically reassuring voice. “Your parents are on their way, but your Aunt Natasha can’t get here until morning. I’m afraid you’ll have to stay the night in the dorms.”
She nodded shakily, wondering when he’d had time to text anyone. Truth be told, it had never occurred to her that she wouldn’t be staying in the dorms. Was that just for tonight? Was he implying that she’d be leaving the school shortly after?
“As soon as Natasha officially clears you, on the record, I imagine you’ll probably want some time back at home,” he said gently, reading her thoughts. “Get a change of scenery for a while.”
She wanted to hug him. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck and never let go. But as long as the other agent was still standing there, she tried her very best not to act like a frightened child. She stood up straighter, pulling in a faltering breath.
“Yeah, that would be nice.”
> He gave her a little smile, tightening his grip on her shoulder. It was only then she realized that he hadn’t let go of her the entire time.
“Benji, you can head back to Joist Hall. Your father can walk you.”
Benji shook his head quickly, placing both hands on the back of her chair.
“I want to stay here—if that’s okay.”
One look at his face said he wasn’t really asking for permission. At any rate, the entire Guilder faculty had long ago learned not to try to keep the two apart.
Tristan gave a cursory nod before gesturing the remaining agent towards the empty hearth tucked into the wall. The man gritted his teeth, but threw a fireball and the thing sprang to life.
“Just a few more questions—while we wait for your mom and dad.”
Aria nodded silently, trying not to imagine how badly her father was breaking the speed limit at that very moment. If her mother happened to be driving, it would be even worse.
“You said that you were walking back from detention... Was anyone with you?”
The faces of three separate boys flashed through her mind. Three late-night encounters. A mystery, an argument, and a kiss. She sank lower in her chair.
This is going to be a long night...
Chapter 2
Three names were given to the dean. Three boys were hauled out of bed.
Aria watched guiltily from her chair as they were escorted under the stone archway, dazed and disoriented, dressed for sleep. Jason was barefoot and shivering slightly in only an undershirt. Oliver was sporting pair of designer silk pajamas he was already coming to regret. Only Alexander didn’t seem thrown by the loud knock on the door and escort of agents. He was wearing the same clothes as when he’d spotted her and Jason kissing beneath the trees. The same annoying smirk, too.
That smirk faded when he saw Tristan.
“Dean Wardell,” he said in surprise, taking an automatic step back. His eyes swept over the strange consortium before returning with a trace of fear. “I thought this was—”
