by Lily Luchesi
“All right.” Melisse turned off the car and its lights. “We’re here. Now what?”
“Now we make ourselves a target.” Perry unbuckled her seatbelt and slid out of the car. The alley was quiet for the moment, and it was hard to believe that it had been the scene of such a bloody tragedy the year before. She tried not to think about it as she looked around.
She’d visited the spot before with no incident but now that she had Melisse close by, she could feel something. A hum ran through her bones and into her heart, and she squatted down and put her hand on the ground. Perry closed her eyes and could see what she believed all along.
“Underground,” Perry said, nodding. “They’re underground here.”
“You think my sister is under there? How do we draw them out?” Melisse knelt and touched the ground, holding Perry’s hand as she did. “I feel it too, you’re right.”
“I think your sister is somewhere around but not down in the nest. They wouldn’t want that. They also wouldn’t want a witch and their shapeshifter this close to their nest. If I use my power, I’m sure one will come out, and that one will attract your sister and the blind one.” Perry sighed. “It’s just a theory, but it always seems like that one comes out when another is killed or in trouble.”
“You’re right. So what do we do?”
“We go down and find one.” Perry went to the manhole that Karin had fallen down and pulled at the cover. “Come help me with this, please.”
“Okay.” Melisse joined her and together they uncovered the hole Perry’s sister had tumbled into the night she was killed. As soon as they did, Perry sat on the edge and let her feet dangle into the darkness. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“No. It’s a terrible idea. But it’s the right one if we’re gonna save your sister and get revenge for mine.” She motioned for Melisse to come to her, and when she did, Perry kissed her hard enough to put a stunned look on Melisse’s face. “We’ll do this and it’ll be finished.”
To Perry’s relief, Melisse nodded and knelt behind her, ready to follow her into the hole. There was a rusty ladder that she didn’t remember being in the hole the year before but it didn’t stop her from sliding down it and landing on her feet with a wobble. Karin had always been the graceful one, and it seemed like that was a trait that shifters shared because Melisse jumped down without the help of the ladder and landed wisp-like on the dirty ground.
Once they were both in the hole, Perry led her forward into the darkness after conjuring a handful of flames. It already seemed like her powers were stronger and better focused than the few times she and Melisse had practiced fighting together, and for the first time she thought this might actually work.
Her assumption bore fruit far more quickly than Perry had expected, when they came around the second corner and her handful of flames illuminated not one but four Hagspawn crouched in the darkness. Past them, for just a moment, Perry was able to see what looked like a nest made of hair and garbage and she backed away, bumping into Melisse as she did.
“Get back, back up the hole! There’s too many!” The last of her words were lost in a cacophony of screeching and Melisse turned and ran just as quickly as Perry could follow.
They scrambled back out of the hole and, much to Perry’s relief, only one of the Hagspawn had pursued them, the rest seeming to think more highly of tending the nest. Karin would have loved to go back down and clear it out but that wasn’t why they were there. One Hagspawn was no challenge at all, and Perry was able to dispatch it with her flames alone.
“We’re halfway there,” Perry said breathlessly. “If I’m right, that thing should show up any moment. It’s not just protecting one Hagspawn, it’s protecting a whole nest.” Before Melisse could ask if she was sure, the moon seemed to be blotted out for a moment and a shadow lengthened the darkness at the edge of the alley.
A screech that put all the others Perry had heard to shame split the night, shaking the ground and bringing a resounding cry from the rest of the nest underground. Her blood ran cold and she instinctively reached for her sister’s hand. What she found instead was Melisse’s, and their fingers intertwined, locking tightly for a moment before Melisse shifted into her sword form and Perry took a run at the monster that was the combination of Hagspawn and Annalise.
From the very start Perry knew that this time was going to be different. She had been part of some epic fights with Karin, but if all went according to plan it would be the shortest fight of her career as a Hunter. There was a part of the plan she hadn’t shared with Melisse but with the increase in her power that she’d seen in the last few days, she was sure she would succeed. It was almost certain that Melisse knew she was hiding something, but unlike Karin she seemed to be willing to trust Perry and hope for the best.
“Let’s do this,” Perry said, more to the Hagspawn than Melisse. In response, the Annalise-thing opened its mouth and shrieked, a sound so human this time that it threatened to break Perry’s mind and Melisse’s heart. “Don’t listen,” she yelled. “Just fight!”
The horrible creature came toward them with Annalise’s speed, something Perry hadn’t bargained for, but she continued toward them as hard as she could. Her breath came in small spurts as she pushed herself harder, searching for the right opening, and then she spied it. She pretended to go left, then juked right at the last second and spun using Melisse as a counterbalance. Then she jumped at Annalise’s back, launched herself into the air, and sliced through the Hagspawn’s tail.
In an instant the connection between the thing and Annalise was severed and she slumped to the ground with the still writhing tail around her neck. Breaking her own link with Melisse, she threw the sword as hard as she could toward Annalise. Melisse shifted back and landed catlike on the ground, frowning at Perry.
“What are you doing?”
“Go! Get that thing off her!” Not giving her partner any more explanation than this, she ran toward the now-blind Hagspawn, jumped onto a trash can, then into the air. She was on the same level as the creature for a split second before she slapped both hands over each side of its head. “Die, you disgusting parasite!” Perry let loose every last bit of her energy she had, and the entire Hagspawn went up in flame with a squeal.
Landing on the ground triumphantly, Perry looked over to see Melisse unwrapping the tail from her sister’s throat. With the Hagspawn dead it seemed to have given up the fight and as soon as it hit the ground it burst into flames as well. With her sister freed, Melisse threw her arms around Annalise just as the elder sister sat up and put a hand to her head.
Oh good, Perry thought with a smile, just before she collapsed onto her hands and knees. She was suddenly exhausted and couldn’t stand a moment longer, and was just about to pass out when she saw Melisse running toward her.
“Perry!” Melisse knelt down beside her. Perry looked up at her groggily and Melisse smiled with tears in her eyes. “You asshole! Don’t ever do that to me again!” She hugged Perry tightly. “We’re partners, aren’t we?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” Perry put her arms around Melisse, looking up when she heard the sound of footsteps on the pavement.
“Thank you,” Annalise said, her voice rough, as if she’d had something stuck in her throat for a while. “Why did you do that? Why didn’t you kill me?”
“Because I didn’t have to.” Perry smiled at Melisse. “I know what it’s like to lose a twin, and I didn’t want Melisse to go through it too.” She put her arm around Melisse’s waist and pulled her close. “Let’s get going. The more people there to try Dad’s cake, the better. Moral support.”
“Great,” Melisse said, putting her head on Perry’s shoulder. “Car’s over there.” She pointed at her SUV and Annalise walked toward it, rubbing her neck while Melisse fell back slightly with Perry.
“What’s up?”
“Annalise doesn’t have her magic anymore. She tried to make a little bit of lightning and nothing happened. What if she doesn’
t get her magic back?” There was a worried look in Melisse’s eyes and Perry shook her head with a grin.
“Don’t worry about that. We work well together, don’t we? I’m happy to have you as my sword for the rest of my life if necessary.” She leaned over and kissed Melisse. “No, scratch that. Forget necessity, I’m happy no matter what.”
“You mean that?” Melisse tossed her a smirk and Perry nodded.
“Cross my heart, swear on Mom’s pie. Now hurry up before your sister thinks we’re doing something dirty back here.” She was rewarded by Melisse sliding her hand up the back of her shirt and she giggled and shrugged it off. “What are you doing?”
“I’ll show you something dirty.”
“Can you at least wait until we get home? I don’t do it in parking lots.” Perry stepped away from Melisse and the redhead closed the gap again and pulled Perry to her, hard.
“Then you are missing out.” She didn’t give Perry a chance to reply before she kissed her just as hard. “If I didn’t have my sister with us, I’d take you behind the dumpster and---”
“Sis?” Annalise called from the parking lot. “I need the car key.”
“On our way,” Perry called back, then grabbed Melisse’s hands and pulled her toward the car. “Come on, you. I don’t care how sharing power with me affected you, we need to get your sister to my parents’ house.”
“All right, all right. But once we get home, you’re mine.” Melisse kissed her again, then ran ahead to let Annalise into the car. Perry exhaled slowly and walked toward them.
It didn’t bring Karin back. Nothing would. But knowing that Annalise was alive was more than enough for Perry’s heart. She might have been sick, she might have lost her magic, but she was alive. Perry hoped that was enough to settle her sister’s memory as well.
“Hurry up,” Melisse called, and Perry looked up to see both sisters waving to her in the exact same way. Tears filled her eyes and she wiped them away with the back of her hand before going toward them.
“Coming,” she called, a grin on her face in spite of the tears running over her cheeks. She didn’t want to keep the sisters waiting. There was cake to eat, and she couldn’t wait to see her father’s face when she told him it was delicious.
Knowing her family, it always would be.
The End
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About the Author
Jewel Cassidy was born and raised where the West begins, and has loved learning about history and science since she was a girl. Though she’s a recent addition to the paranormal romance world, she has been an avid reader since she was in middle school. She’s always coming up with new ideas and occasionally manages to settle down and write one. When she’s not writing, Jewel loves knitting, crocheting, and watching horror movies.
Though she has traveled the country extensively and lived in all sorts of weather, Jewel currently lives in Fort Worth with her high school sweetheart and a number of vocal and pushy cats. She misses Chicago and hopes to live there again when she’s rich and famous.
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SUPERNATURALLY BLESSED
The Femnora Academy Series
DJ Shaw
About Supernaturally Blessed
Mitchie Jacobs enjoyed teaching young witches how to control their abilities, not to mention the mundane general courses that would get them through everyday life in a world that barely tolerated the supernatural and the students enjoyed her way of teaching.
Alice Wallace was headmaster of Femnora, the Academy of Witchcraft, in Arrowcrest and she wasn’t afraid to hold that title over anyone who challenged her authority. Having Mitchie teaching at her Academy wasn’t her idea of a walk in the park but she knew the Board would not be questioned about their decisions.
But when their school is threatened, can the two rivals put their differences aside for the sake of their students and work together to keep them safe?
Chapter One
Mitchie Jacobs woke up to sunlight streaming into her bedroom, creating a rainbow as it hit the crystal hanging in her window.
Wiping the sleep from her eyes with a yawn, she thought about what was on the agenda for the day, Go over lesson plan one more time to ensure it has everything I want the students to learn. Make sure to look over Matt’s personal goal list to see how he’s coming along. Finish grocery list.
Mitchie stood up, making her way to the bathroom to take care of the everyday mundane things that needed to be done before getting dressed for work. Knowing that Alice Wallace would be returning to Femnora Academy after a three-week vacation sent her heart galloping in her chest but there wasn’t much she could do about it. Mitchie hated that she still couldn’t stand up to her childhood bully, but confrontation really wasn’t her style. Now that she was an instructor, Mitchie was working with her students on how standing up for themselves but she always felt like a hypocrite because she never practiced what she was preached.
Taking a final look in the mirror, Mitchie took a deep breath and left the bathroom to gather her backpack. Stepping into the hallway, she locked her room door, squared her shoulders so she could face the day ahead and made her way to the area of the school where the classes where housed. Teaching was everything Mitchie had hoped it would be with the students all so eager to find out what she going to teach them every day, because it was always something new. Mitchie never followed the curriculum as closely as the Board expected their instructors to do, but she never veered so far from it that she found herself in front of them to explain her decisions.
Mitchie made the choice to start each class with a creative writing lesson, to ensure she had her students undivided attention. It always made them think because the entire class created a new short story together for the first fifteen minutes of the class then settled down to learn the daily lesson.
Mitchie had discovered her third-year teaching that giving the students something they felt was fun to work on together but was actually stimulating their brains to learn helped them pay attention to the lesson and focus on what they were learning.
As Mitchie was unlocking her classroom she heard someone clearing their throat behind her, “Still here, I see. I would have thought you would have moved to another school by now, knowing that this is my territory and all.”
The instructor took a deep breath, turning around slowly to face the woman who had tormented her all through high school and college, “And I thought I had made it clear before you left for your vacation that I wasn’t going anywhere. These students need me here, Alice, and I am not going to just leave them. Most of these students don’t have anyone that gives a damn about their needs, that’s why they’ve been placed here. I am one of the few teachers in this place that these kids trust, and I refuse to abandon them just because your ego is bruised due to the Board hiring me and placing me in this district. Now if you will excuse me, I need to get ready for my first class.”
There was a loud clap of thunder as Mitchie turned back to her classroom and pushed the door open.
Alice scoffed, surprised that timid Mitchie seemed to be standing up to her after so many years, “Woah ho! Kitty has discovered her claws! Better watch out who you scratch at, Mitchie, you might end up declawed.”
Thunder rumbled again and lightening crackled across the sky flashing in the windows around them as Mitchie just shook her head. Clouds began to gather overhead, heavy with water waiting to fall. Taking a step into her classroom, Mitchie refused to give Alice any reaction to her comment, knowing it would piss the spiteful woman off even more than seeing her at the school had. The instructor had already said what she needed to say and felt there was nothing left to say.
Rain tapped on the window while Mitchie pondered about how Alice would continue to stalk her until every last ounce of will drained from her being and Mitchie had learned a long time ago there was nothing that would
deter the woman from the insistent badgering. It certainly didn’t help that her childhood bully had become the headmaster of the very Academy she had been chosen to work for, giving her ample opportunity to torment Mitchie on a daily basis. The instructor could always complain to the Board about it but what good would that do her in the long run? Mitchie was content being an instructor, showing children how to control their abilities as well as teaching them the mundane curriculum they needed for everyday life so running the school was not on her current agenda and becoming an even bigger target for Alice’s wrath was not a wise decision for anyone to make, so she just worked with the hand she had been dealt since high school when Alice walked into her life. The ringing of the school bell bright Mitchie out of her musings and she watched her first class take their seats.
Chapter Two
Mitchie was cleaning the chalkboard after her last class when one of her students approached her, “You know that one of us will clean the classroom at the end of the day, don’t you Ms. Jacobs?”
The instructor smiled, turning to look at her student, “Of course I do, Matt. But it is my responsibility to do these things and it wouldn’t be right to instruct my students to do it for me. But since you’re here, how about we go over your learning goals and see how that is coming along? Shall we?”
Mitchie wiped the chalk from her hands as she took a seat at her desk, accepting the paper offered by her student, “So it looks like you’ve really been thinking about what you want your learning goals to be. This is looking really good, Matt. I’m very proud of you. Now, are there any other goals you want to put on your list, or do you think this is good for now?”
Matt titled his head to the side, looking over his paper, as if trying to decide what answer would make his teacher happiest, “I think this is a great start for some achievable learning goals to give myself. Making sure I can control my powers is my top priority, especially since I graduate this year.”
