Academy of the Elites: Unbound Magic

by Alexis Calder

  20

  Raven

  It was late by the time I slipped into my own room, a smile still on my lips from my time with Zach. He had a way of making me feel like the only woman in the whole world when I was with him.

  I slipped off my clothes as I walked toward the bathroom. A quick shower would help relax me enough to get a good night’s sleep. When I reached the bathroom, I flipped on the light switch and screamed as I realized I wasn’t alone.

  And I was naked.

  Fuck me.

  I covered myself as best as possible as I stared down at the shadow fae who was sitting on my bathroom counter. “How long have you been there waiting for me, creep?”

  He grinned and for the first time, I could make out what he looked like. He was tall and lean, much like my professors who were fae. He had long silver hair and a square jaw. He was handsome but the elongated canines in his smiling mouth gave him a predatory look.

  I grabbed my towel from the hook on the wall without taking my eyes off him. As I wrapped it around me, I noticed that his bright green eyes flicked down and up, checking me out. I wrinkled my nose. “I was not naked for your enjoyment.”

  “Shame,” he said. “You look quite beautiful naked.”

  “You’re disgusting. And unwelcome.” I wanted to ask him what he wanted or why he was in my room. But we both knew the answer to that question and I wasn’t prepared to hand over the book.

  Suddenly, I was hyper aware of the fact that the book had been in my room without any protections until recently. And apparently, he could now enter my room. Had he come in before and missed the book? Or had he come in after he threatened me and looked for it?

  I shuddered and goosebumps spread on my arms. I’d never felt so violated in my whole life. What if this wasn’t the first time? “How’d you get in here?”

  He hopped off the counter and walked toward me. He was much taller than I anticipated and his broad shoulders made me think that he was probably quite strong despite his lean frame. “Come back to the fae realm with me and learn.”

  “No, thank you,” I said. “I’m good here.”

  He shrugged. “Your loss. Either way, you’ll give me the book.”

  My brow furrowed and I narrowed my eyes as I tried to read his expression. He’d been gone for weeks. What had he been doing? I never believed he wouldn’t come back, but why now? “You know I’m not going to give you the book.”

  “Your magic has returned to full strength,” he said. “I gave you safe passage while you recovered as a gesture of good will. Now I’m done playing nice.”

  “Like you played nice when you nearly killed my friend?” I asked.

  “I warned you,” he said. “You didn’t listen.”

  “You’re still not getting that book,” I said.

  “I’ll have to hurt someone closer to you then,” he said. “Perhaps one of your mates?”

  My pulse raced and my chest tightened as fear gripped me. I could feel the muscles in my jaw fluttering as I tried to keep my face impassive. I didn’t want him to know how much he was getting to me. “You’re a coward.”

  “I am not,” he said. “I would prefer a fair fight. I’d much rather just kill you and get it over with. But then I won’t get the book. I’ve traced it to your room, but I can’t find it. I need you to access it for me.”

  I swallowed hard. I was only alive because he thought I could give him the book, yet it was Zach’s magic keeping it locked up. I could no more release it from its hiding place than the shadow fae. But if he knew that, I’d already be dead.

  “I talked with Halifax,” I said, hoping to distract him.

  He straightened. “So you know what the book is.”

  “I do,” I said, not knowing where I was going with this. All I knew was that I couldn’t give him the book and I had no clue how to get him out of my room.

  “So you know it belongs to me,” he said. “She stole it from me.”

  “Because it’s dangerous,” I said.

  He smirked and his eyes glinted. “My mate always has been the self-righteous type. I assume she was training you to follow in her footsteps?”

  I had no idea how to answer that.

  He shook his head. “There is no reason to have royal guard here in this wasteland. She should never have fled here. And when I have that book, all of her sacrifices will be in vain.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said. “She told me the book was evil. And that you were her mate.”

  “Yes, I am,” he said. “Mating bonds can be cruel sometimes. But they did allow me to track her after she left me.”

  “I get the feeling you deserved being left,” I said.

  “You’ll learn soon enough, young fae,” he said. “The pull to faerie is strong. I knew she’d come back eventually. And unlike you, I could wait an eternity for her.”

  “You won’t get the book.” I gripped my towel tighter, my hands in fists. If I attacked him first, would I stand a chance? Could I defeat him? Should I call to my mates and ask for help? A million thoughts were buzzing through my mind. The only thing I was certain of, was that I wasn’t going to give him the book. He was clearly unbalanced and I believed Professor Halifax’s warnings despite her attempts to kill me.

  “Do you know the power you’d have if you went home?” He reached for me and brushed his fingers across my cheek.

  I backed up until I hit the wall. I wanted to smack his hand away but I wanted to keep the towel over me more. “Don’t touch me.”

  He lowered his hand. “Your powers will always be weak here. Bound by mortal rules and the physics of this world. You’ll grow old, and one day, you’ll die.

  “But in Faerie, your magic would awaken. Fully unbound, limitless, and eternal. You’ll age so slowly that one day, you’ll wish for death to claim you. Give in. Hand me the book, and I’ll take you home.”

  “It’s not my home,” I said.

  He growled and moved so fast I screamed. His arms were on either side of my head, caging me in against the wall. His chest was pressed up against me and I could feel the heat of his skin on mine.

  His eyes flashed with a terrifying sliver glint and he bared his sharp teeth. “I’m done with your games, little girl. I need that book.”

  My lower lip trembled and I forced myself to glare at him. “Then you’ll have to kill me. I can’t get it for you. My mates locked it up, away from me, even. Go ahead. Kill me. See if they’ll be willing to help you once I’m dead.”

  He groaned in frustration and then slapped me, sending a stinging pain across my cheek.

  I couldn’t help but grin up at him. “Checkmate.”

  “You think you won?” he asked.

  “You can take your anger out on me or my mates, but you’ll never get the book,” I said.

  “Then I’ll start picking off students one at a time until it’s just the five of you,” he said. “You have one week to give me the book.”

  He lifted his hand and closed his fingers into a fist, then opened them. He was holding a small glass vial filled with something that was as black as night. “When you’re ready to give me the book, shatter the vial and I’ll come. Make sure you’re alone. And you know the rules. Tell anyone, and I’ll consider your time up. This time, I won’t leave any blood in your friends when I hurt them. They won’t be waking back up.”

  He passed the vial into my hand and I closed my fingers around it.

  Black smoke wrapped around him in tendrils until it completely encircled him and he vanished. I waited a few heartbeats, just to make sure he was gone, then I fell to my knees.

  I had no doubt he’d make good on his threat, which meant, I was out of time. There had to be something I could do to catch him and to make sure he didn’t get the book. What could I do in the next week to make this stop?

  21

  Raven

  Matt set a stack of books down in front of me. “Have you seen these? I found them in a very neglected corner of
the library. I had to wrestle a spider for them.”

  I laughed and dragged the books toward me. “Thanks, Matt. But you should be focusing on your research. You’ve got your test before mine.”

  He shrugged. “I’ve been studying this stuff for weeks now. And after what Zach said, it doesn’t sound like she’ll be quizzing us.”

  “No, it doesn’t,” I said darkly. “I still can’t believe that the illusions were real enough to inflict actual injury.”

  “Good thing mine’s a dream, right?” Matt said. “You can’t get hurt in a dream for real.”

  “Luka did tell me something about danger if you were woken up from within a dream, though. So definitely don’t do that.” I pulled the top book from the stack and wiped the dust and cobwebs from it. Matt wasn’t kidding when he said he’d had to wrestle spiders. Sticky webs were all over the book. Trying not to overthink it, I wiped my hands on my jeans.

  “I guess I should have talked with Luka about it,” Matt said. “But that felt weird.”

  “How come?” I asked. “I mean, you have seen him naked. How weird could it be?”

  He shrugged. “Most of us don’t want everyone to know what we’re capable of fully, you know? We’re taught to always hold some magic back in case we’re ever attacked for real.”

  I remembered when Coach Miller had pushed Luka too far in gym. He’d done magic he wasn’t proud of. Magic that he didn’t want anyone to know about. But I was glad I knew and it helped me understand him better in a weird way.

  “What are you hiding from me?” I asked Matt with a grin.

  He leaned closer and his lips brushed against my ear. “Why don’t you come to that corner I found and find out?”

  “With the spiders?” I asked. “No, thank you.”

  “I’ll get rid of the spiders,” he said.

  I cocked an eyebrow. “If you have magic that gets rid of spiders, that’s something I want to see.”

  He stood and took hold of my hand, helping me up from my chair. I followed him through the shelves of books, past the librarian’s desk. She frowned at me while eyeing me over her glasses. Her mossy green hair moved as she shook her head. The things she must see - and ignore - in here.

  We wove between tables dotted with other students who were studying for classes. Then we came to a staircase I’d never seen. “Has this always been here?”

  “Who knows?” he said. “Every time I’m in here I see something different.”

  We went down the twisting staircase into another level of the library. It was just as large as the space above and overflowing with books. A few tables were scattered around and a couple of students were working on various things. We walked past them and through the zig-zag disarray of shelves.

  In an especially dark corner we sped up to get away from the group of students who were obviously not studying. A trail of clothing led away from them like breadcrumbs.

  I stifled a giggle and we kept walking. Matt tugged my arm, dragging me toward an isolated little corner that was nearly fully dark.

  “Is this the place?” I asked.

  “Nice, right?” he asked.

  “Yeah, if you’re looking for a place to build a nest for your hundreds of eggs.” I shuddered. I could see the webs clinging to books. It did look abandoned. We were surrounded by shelves on four sides with only a small entry way formed by a space between two shelves. It was very much like it had been done on purpose. Whoever set the shelves up here knew what they were doing.

  “Just wait,” Matt said.

  “You’ve got a minute,” I said as a shiver ran through me. I could almost feel the skitter of bugs on my skin. “This place is freaking me out.”

  Matt let go of my hand and walked toward the center of the square space. “Watch this.” He grinned as he lifted his hands and a bright light shot out from his fingertips.

  I closed my eyes against the initial shock of the light and then slowly blinked them back open. When I looked again, there was a shimmering transparent dome over the two of us. It filled the space around us right up against the book shelves.

  Slowly, I turned in a circle, looking at the sheer sparkling magic around us. My lips parted in surprise. “What is it?”

  “It’s a barrier spell,” Matt said. “Nothing can get in or out.”

  “Oh?” I asked.

  “Yes, you’re my prisoner.” He laughed as he walked over to me. “Most importantly, no spiders can get in.”

  “I like where you’re going with that,” I said. “What about other people? Other mages?”

  “We can see out, but to anyone walking by it looks like there’s nobody here,” he said.

  I moved closer to the barrier and brushed my fingers against it. It tingled against my skin. “How long does it last?”

  “Until I call it down,” he said. “I’ve never held one too long. Zach and I used to use it when we were kids if we wanted to get away from our nanny.”

  “That sounds terrible,” I said.

  “We weren’t the nicest kids,” he said.

  “What happens if someone walks in here?” I asked.

  “They’d feel it,” he said, “but they couldn’t get in.”

  “Can other magic users detect it?” My mind was already racing to how we could use this against the shadow fae.

  “If they run into it or if they’re looking for it, I suppose,” he said. “But I doubt anyone is looking for us back here.”

  “Can you teach me this?” I asked.

  “Sure,” he said.

  “Now, can we take a break from studying?” He slid his arms around my waist.

  “Yes, please,” I said, throwing my arms over his shoulders. I slid my fingers into his hair, guiding his head down. Our lips met and he kissed me. Gently at first, tender kisses. His lips were soft and he tasted like peppermint. He pulled slightly away from the kiss and sucked my lower lip into his mouth. His fingers tangled into my hear, pulling my head closer as he resumed the kiss. Deeper this time, hungrier.

  I moaned and felt dampness spread between my thighs. Without breaking the kiss, I worked the buttons of his shirt until I could slide it off him. I raked my fingers over his chest, feeling his firm muscles under my touch. My hands found his pants and he dropped his hands to mine. We broke the kiss to help remove each other’s pants.

  Matt stood naked in front of me, his impressive erection at full attention. I knelt down in front of him and used my tongue to lick his cock from the bottom of the shaft all the way to the tip before closing my lips around it.

  Matt groaned as I bobbed up and down, using my tongue to stimulate the sides. His hands guided my head until I felt him tense.

  I wasn’t ready for him to come yet.

  Wiping off my mouth, I looked up at him. “Why don’t you join me down here?”

  He grinned and got on his knees. I gently guided him down so he was laying on his back before climbing on top of him.

  His cock was in front of me, not yet inside me. I wanted to tease him a little first and give him some time to recover.

  The cold stone floor of the library was hard against my knees but I was so far gone that all I could think about was getting more of Matt.

  His hands started at my hips and slid up my waist toward my breasts. He groaned a little as he cupped them and played with my nipples. I moved my hips against his cock, teasing him.

  “Raven, you have no idea what you do to me do you?” he asked.

  “I have an idea,” I said. Probably the same thing he did to me. He could turn my insides to mush with just a few words or a gentle caress.

  I leaned down so I could kiss him and adjusted my hips so I was positioned with my entrance above his cock. When I broke the kiss and sat up, I lowered myself onto him.

  Matt’s hands moved to my hips and he groaned as I began to move my hips, undulating and gyrating against him. He lifted his hips making his cock hit my g-spot and I moaned, leaning back on him.

  Setting my hands on the ground behi
nd me, back arched, I continued to ride him. The two of us moving together, sending waves of pleasure through me.

  Panting, I moved faster as my climax neared. Matt’s thumb found my clit and he teased me, sending me over the edge. I cried out as orgasm exploded through me.

  Matt’s hands moved back to my tits and he groaned as he came.

  A few seconds later, Matt had our clothes out on the ground for us and we cuddled on top of them. My head rested on his chest and he ran his hand over my hair.

  I never wanted to leave.

  22

  Matt

  Zach’s wounds from his test were already gone. As he’d been told, the magic wore off and it was as if it had never happened. But that didn’t make me feel any better about going into my own test with Professor Halifax.

  And of course, I had the first appointment of the day, so there wasn’t even another student I could ask about how theirs went. At least Raven had a few more days before she had to go. After everything she’d been through, it wasn’t fair to ask her to have to participate in something that would put her through it all again.

  I stepped into the familiar classroom. For nearly two years, I’d learned a lot in this room. Despite Professor Halifax’s descent into evil, or whatever the fuck that was, she had been a good teacher.

  “Mr. Obscura,” Professor Flora looked up from where she was sitting behind her desk.

  “Good morning, Professor.” I flashed my most respectable smile.

  She pursed her lips as if she wasn’t impressed by me. Or maybe I was reading too much into it. She stood and walked around the desk, her long gray dress dragging behind her across the stone floor as she walked.

  “I hope you prepared satisfactorily,” she said.

  “I’ve been studying since it was assigned,” I said.

  “We’ll find out soon enough.” She walked toward the door and then flipped off the light switch leaving only the faint glow of the emergency light on. “You might want to sit down, Mr. Obscura.”