Academy of the Elites: Fated Magic

by Alexis Calder

  Especially after that conversation with the Obscura twin. Those two thought they could have anything they wanted. Raven was a smart girl, though. She wasn’t going to fall for their tricks. Well, I didn’t think she would anyway.

  While most of me wanted to threaten him and tell him to stay away from my girl, I knew that was the one way to piss her off to the point of never getting laid again.

  Raven protected her independence fiercely. It was possibly the most sexy and most annoying thing about her.

  “What about the game?” she asked.

  “Let the others play,” I said. “I want you to myself.”

  Voices floated into the common room as people filed down the stairs. I leaned back against the couch, knowing the moment was gone. She’d never leave now.

  She leaned back next to me, turned slightly so her tits were pressed against my chest. I had to hold back from groaning out loud. I wanted her so bad it hurt. “You sure you don’t want to leave?”

  She licked my lower lip, then bit it gently. “Soon.”

  That made me groan. There was no holding it in that time. “Raven, you’re going to make me take your clothes off right here.”

  “You’re going to have to earn that tonight,” she said.

  “Oh?” I poked her in the side, making her giggle. “Are you saying I have to win your favor tonight?”

  “Is that a bet anyone can make?” A male voice said.

  “I’ll take a piece of that,” another male chimed in.

  I growled, the hair on the back of my neck standing on edge at the familiar sound. “Who let the mages in here?”

  Raven elbowed me. “I’m a mage.”

  “You’re a cool mage,” I said. “And Raven isn’t property, you can’t win her.”

  “I was flirting,” she said.

  “Right,” one of the twins said.

  “You two never come down here,” Raven said. “What brings you to the dungeon?”

  I locked my eyes on them, my upper lip twitching as they took seats across from us in the other couch. When they were together, I had no idea which was which. I couldn’t pinpoint Raven’s scent. Especially not with her lounging against me.

  I pulled her in tighter, wanting to remind them that she was mine.

  “We heard there was a game,” one of them said. He pulled a stack of bills out of his pocket. “This enough to buy in?”

  Raven laughed. “It’s not that kind of game.”

  “We have different stakes down here,” Makayla said as she settled into the space next to Raven.

  “Oh?” The twin holding the money looked intrigued.

  “Strip poker,” Raven said. “Think you can handle it?”

  “We aren’t seriously letting them play, are we?” Starla said as she took her usual place at the table.

  I glanced around the room. Everyone seemed to have arrived right after the twins. Most of the other shifters were watching them with suspicion. I didn’t blame them.

  Most mages treated us terribly. And aside from Raven, they never came down here.

  “Why not?” Remi asked.

  I looked at Remi, my eyebrows raised in surprise. He seemed like he’d be the last to accept them in our game. Shit, we only recently allowed Remi to join. And that was only because of Makayla.

  Frowning, I realized that we’d set a precedent when we let Remi play. Since he was seeing Makayla, even if she still hadn’t admitted it officially, he was allowed in. And as much as I hated it, one of the twins was spending time with Raven.

  “You sure you two can handle it?” Raven asked. “It doesn’t seem like your game.”

  “Oh, we can handle it,” the twin with the money shoved it back in his pocket.

  “What do you think, Ben?” Raven looked up at me. “Do we have room for two more?”

  “I guess so,” I said.

  “Alright, if you’re in, take your seat. I’m dealing,” Starla said.

  While everyone grabbed a seat around the low table, I leaned close to Raven so I could whisper. “You’re still spending the night in my bed tonight.”

  “Of course I am,” she said. “But you still need to earn me.”

  I’d never been so turned on by the prospect of playing poker in my life. I wanted to get her naked and then I was going to carry her over my shoulder back to my room like a cave man claiming his bride.

  As we played, someone put out glasses and we passed around bottles of liquor. With each hand, the conversation grew louder and the laugher more boisterous.

  Three rounds in and I was still fully clothed. Raven had lost her shoes and one of the twins, Zach I think, was down to bare feet. He was terrible, which was turning out to be entertaining to watch.

  Finally, I lost a hand and pulled off my own shoes. Raven leaned in closer to me, her body pressed against mine. Feeling her warmth on me was the best thing in the world.

  I had to admit, even the twins couldn’t ruin the mood.

  We kept playing and drinking and everyone was having friendly side conversations. To my surprise even the mages were getting along with the rest of the group. I hated to admit it, but they weren’t as bad as I originally thought. Not that I felt any better about Raven spending time with them, but I supposed there were worse people she could hang out with. I’d even managed to figure out which was which. Though, if they changed places, I’d be screwed.

  A few more hands and I had lost my socks and my belt. Raven had lost her pants in the last round and another loss would have her losing her shirt. A couple of the shifters had left the game and the twins were down to their tee shirts and boxers. There were in surprisingly good spirits about it.

  “There was that one summer when I convinced him he could breathe under water,” Zach said.

  “You didn’t!” Raven laughed. “What happened when he tested it?”

  “He nearly drowned. It was the angriest I ever saw our dad.”

  “I was a kid,” Matt said.

  “You were thirteen,” Zach said.

  Everyone around the table laughed.

  “Alright,” Starla said. “Moment of truth.”

  Raven groaned as Starla turned the cards. “Shit.”

  “It’s about to get very cold for you,” Starla said. “Take it off!”

  “Dammit,” Raven stood up, setting her cards on the table. Then she pulled her shirt off. She was standing there in her bra and panties and I can tell you there was nothing cold about it. In fact, I felt like I was on fire.

  Foreplay was over. I wasn’t going to wait until she was naked.

  I set my cards down on the table. “Well, it’s been fun, but there’s something I need to do.”

  I grabbed Raven and tossed her over my shoulder.

  She squealed. “Ben! Put me down.”

  “Not till we’re in my bedroom.” I turned so I was facing the rest of the group, Raven hanging over my shoulder. “See you all in the morning.”

  Laughter, whoops, and cheers followed us down the hall from our friends in the common room. As soon as I closed the door behind us, I set Raven on the bed. She grinned up at me.

  “What do you think? Did I do enough to earn you tonight?”

  “Maybe,” she said. “What are you going to do with me now that you have me?”

  “Everything,” I said.

  “I like the sound of that,” she said.

  20

  Raven

  It was odd how quickly things seemed to get into a normal routine. After last semester, I’d expected a bit more drama. Though, I had to admit, I kind of liked it boring.

  Classes took most of our time. All of my friends were planning to take the formal trials this spring so we were pretty focused on learning as much as we could before it was time.

  That didn’t mean we didn’t have fun. Regular poker games, tumbles in the library with Luka, and the occasional study session with Matt while Zach was away had kept me busy.

  The one thing in my schedule that I hated doing was going to
my parole meetings.

  I hadn’t seen Officer M since the time bubble last month. After the incident, he hadn’t said anything about what I’d done. It was as if nothing happened. I half expected him to show up today with handcuffs and charge me for using my magic that day.

  When I saw Dr. Green standing in front of the door, I breathed a little easier. Officer M was usually better when the dean was around. Not that it helped much, but it made me feel better.

  “Hey, Dr. Green,” I said. “It’s been a while. You must be busy.”

  “I am,” he said. “Professor Halifax caught me up on what happened last month.”

  My brow furrowed and I realized I hadn’t seen the demon around campus since returning from break. “Have you been gone all this time?”

  “I had some business to attend too,” he said as he opened the door.

  “Okay.” I walked into the office. “Well, welcome back, then, I guess.”

  Officer M wasn’t in the chair behind the desk. In fact, he wasn’t even in the room. I looked around again, wondering if I was missing something. “Am I early?”

  “No, you’re on time, it seems Officer M is running late.” Dr. Green took his seat and folded his hands on the desk. “Why don’t you have a seat.”

  I obliged, feeling awkward in the silent room. I looked over at the tree clock. Today, it was covered in tiny brown buds. One or two of them open to reveal pink flowers. I narrowed my eyes, studying the growth. Was the clock alive?

  Once before, I’d seen the clock with things growing on it, but they’d been gold fall leaves. Nearly dead. This was new life. And it created a stark contrast with the black, lifeless looking tree.

  Tick. Tick. Tick.

  The clock hand moved and I stared at the gold eyes of the creepy owl. Time felt like it was moving slower in here.

  I turned away from the clock, startled by my own thoughts. Then I realized that if someone did stop time in this school, Dr. Green and I wouldn’t know. We’d be safe due to the magic shield in his office.

  “How come there aren’t other places in the school like your office?” I asked. “With the magic shield.”

  “There are, but they aren’t used much any more,” he said.

  I remembered the old dungeons Professor Halifax had told me about. “It seems like having a few more spaces like this could be helpful after the time bubble and all.”

  He frowned.

  “Am I not allowed to talk to you about it?” I figured he knew. I also figured there wasn’t really anything off the table with him.

  “You can,” he said. “I’m just still not happy with the lack of results around it.”

  “So they don’t know who did it yet?” I asked.

  “Do you want to know where I was?” he asked.

  That wasn’t what I expected at all. Dr. Green rarely told me anything. I’d gotten used to his ability to brush my questions off and get me off topic. This time, he’d moved me off topic by offering information. It wasn’t his usual play. “Sure.”

  “I’ve been looking for any of your relatives that might still be alive,” he said.

  “Oh.” I barely managed the word. It seemed an impossible thought. My shoulders slumped and I suddenly felt like my arms were too heavy. “And?”

  He shook his head. “Dead ends so far, but I’m running into strange situations.”

  My brow furrowed and I waited in silence, worried that if I asked a specific question, he’d stop talking.

  “I wasn’t willing to share anything about your family with you because I wanted to have good news to share. Now, I’m starting to think that might not happen.”

  This was an angle I hadn’t considered. I always figured he was hiding things from me, but I sort of made it more sinister in my head. “You were looking for good news?”

  “Yes,” he said. “You came from a large extended family so there was a good chance someone was out there. A cousin or aunt or something.”

  “But you can’t find them?” My voice was small. I hadn’t realized how much I wanted to find someone from my family until now. To have even a single person who shared a history with me would be amazing.

  “Worse, when I find their trail, I keep finding that they’ve met the same bloody end as your parents.”

  My chest felt like it was being squeezed. “Because of their magic?”

  “I suspect so,” he said. “Time magic is illegal, but it’s also rare. And we know it’s inherited. I just never thought someone would target a whole family line because of it.”

  “How long ago?” I asked, not able to finish the sentence. I wanted to know how long ago the last member of my family had taken a breath. How long had I been as alone I as felt?

  “Shortly before the thief died,” he said. “Which makes me think she was the culprit.”

  I swallowed over the lump in my throat. That wasn’t that long ago. Someone from my family had been alive after I found out I was a mage. “There’s nobody else?”

  “I’m not sure yet,” he said. “I was following some tips I got about some of your father’s relatives, but I wasn’t successful finding them. I’m not sure if it’s because they are gone, or if it’s because they are much better at hiding than I am at seeking.”

  “Maybe they’re out there, then,” I said, not sure if I believed it. I took a deep breath, hating the other thought swirling in my head. It was the selfish thought of self preservation.

  “Do you think it’s over? That the thief was the one who was doing all of this? Or is there someone still out there hunting my family?” I felt terrible for asking, but I wanted to know what I was in for once I left the protective walls of the academy.

  “I think it was the thief,” he said. “But we can’t be sure.”

  I nodded, not sure what else I could say or do. “This family you were tracking, were they near here?”

  “No,” he said. “They were supposed to be in the mountains outside of a hidden fae settlement. None of the locals were helpful but I don’t always give people the warm fuzzies when they see me.”

  “Maybe I could go,” I said.

  “You should go after you graduate. If nothing else, you can learn more about your fae heritage,” he said.

  I shook my head. “You’ve known the whole time, haven’t you?”

  “I told you, I didn’t want to have this conversation with you without any good news.”

  “Yet, here we are,” I said.

  “I told you I didn’t find the family I was looking for,” he said. “I didn’t tell you that I didn’t have any good news.”

  I cocked an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  “Your case was dismissed last week,” he said.

  The words didn’t seem real. “Wait, what? Is that why Officer M isn’t here?”

  “He’ll be here, but not to see you,” he said. “I wasn’t able to get Mr. Obscura’s case dropped yet. But the council agreed that your circumstances were unique and you’ve been given a clean slate.”

  I covered my mouth with my hands as I laughed. That was good news. It wasn’t as good it would have been if he’d found some of my family, but it was incredible.

  I lowered my hands to my lap. “So no more meetings with Officer M?”

  He shook his head. “None.”

  I closed my eyes and leaned my head back, relishing the feeling of freedom. I’d been so worried that I’d accidentally do something wrong and end up in a prison cell.

  “But you have to promise me you’ll take more care in the future regarding your magic,” Dr. Green said.

  I opened my eyes and looked at him. “I will, I promise.”

  As I left the office, I felt like I was floating. This was a huge surprise and I hadn’t realized just how much the parole was weighing on me until it was released.

  It wasn’t until I was sliding my key card into my door later that night that I realized Dr. Green didn’t tell me not to use my magic.

  And if there was one thing I’d come to learn about Dr. Green
, it was that everything he did was with purpose.

  21

  Luka

  Raven caught my gaze as soon as she walked into the room. I waved and then tapped the desk next to me indicating that she should join me.

  She smiled, and headed toward me, dropping her backpack next to the chair before sliding into the seat. “Hey, thanks for saving me a seat.”

  “Any time, kitten,” I said.

  Coach Miller cleared his throat and the whole room fell silent. I could feel Raven’s tension next to me. I slid my hand under the desk and rested it on her knee, trying to send as much reassuring energy as I could her way.

  I’d been here a year longer than her and seen the trials first hand. I was ready to get out of here and move on with my life.

  Raven, on the other hand, was one of only a few first year students who were going to complete the trials this spring.

  “Listen up,” Coach Miller said. “You are all here because you’re required to take the trials three months from now. Consider this your only disclaimer warning that you could die in the trials.”

  “On that sunny note,” Professor Halifax said, “congratulations to all of you for making it this far. If you’re here today, you’re here because you passed the practice trials last semester.”

  “Which are nothing like the real trials,” Coach Miller said.

  “True, the trials are more difficult and will require more individual skills, but you will be prepared by the time we reach the end of the term,” Professor Halifax added.

  “If you listen to us,” Coach Miller said. “And don’t get soft on us now.”

  I wanted to roll my eyes at Coach Miller. He was trying so hard to get us to freak out. But this was what we were here for. Part of our training for the trials required us to attend these mandatory meetings in the evenings leading up to the main event.

  This was the first of many to come and if this was how they were going to go, I was even more ready for the trials to come so I could get out of this. Thankfully, we only had six total of these meetings. One this month, then they got more frequent as we got closer to the final day.